Reforging The Past
by Paladeus
Summary: Naruto and Hinata go back in time with Kyuubi's help when she realizes she's about to die, which would also kill Naruto. In the process, they become Hanyou and they begin building up their comrades to fight the horrors to come.Naru/Hina/Ino/FemHaku/FemKyu
1. Return

**Title:** Reforging The Past

**Chapter1 -** Return

**Ship:** Naruto/Hina, Naru/Harem, Naru/Hina/Ino/FemHaku/FemKyuu, Kurenai/Anko

**Author:** Paladeus

**Key:** "Speech", **"Demonic Speech"**, _'Thought'_, _**'Demonic Thought'**_

xXxXxXx

**A/N:**** Full Summary** – Naruto and Hinata go back in time to one month before Genin Selections with the Kyuubi's help when the Kyuubi realizes she's about to die, which would also kill off Naruto. In the process, they become Hanyou and they begin building up their comrades to stave off the horrors to come.

Fic will be a Naruto/Hinata/Harem (Naruto/Hinata/FemHaku/Ino/FemKyuubi.) And Anko/Kurenai and is a collaboration of ideas between myself, PudgyPudge, DarkHeroOrion and MatrixExplosion from this very website.

**This story assumes a basic understanding of the Naruto universe, it's characters and bonds. I will, of course, manipulate these bonds as I see fit to work for this story. This holds true for character relationships, friendships, personalities, histories and knowledge, as well as anything else I may have forgotten.**

**Recommended story of the chapter:** "Chunin Exam Day" by Perfect Lionheart

**xXx** – STORY – **xXx**

Uzumaki Naruto looked out over the expanse of field in front of him, the staging area of what would soon be the final battle between the forces of Leaf, Sand and Grass against the forces of Sound, Stone Cloud and Mist. Each of those villages currently in the battle against them had some form of vendetta or qualm with Konoha in one form or fashion. Sound was led by a man who turned missing nin on them, Stone had a long-standing grudge against Konoha's Yondaime and, by extension, his son after learning Naruto himself was the famous ninja's child. Then Cloud simply wanting the Byakugan and Mist hated all bloodlines, which Konoha favored and allowed to live and prosper within their walls.

Right now, the huge plain was a pristine green of beautiful nature, but on the other side, barely visible to his enhanced eyesight granted by the Kyuubi no Kitsune, he could see the combined army of everyone against his side.

"What's the matter, Naruto-kun?" Hyuuga Hinata came up and wrapped her arms around her boyfriend-of-two-months' chest from behind.

"We're sorely outnumbered this time around," he whispered. Hinata hugged him tighter to her and nuzzled his neck. "Sand has only about two-hundred ninja left, Grass about eighteen-hundred and our own are down to barely a three thousand."

"We'll make it through this, Naruto-kun. We also do and always will." Naruto was silent a few minutes as they both took in the world around them.

"I have an idea as to how I can halve their numbers, but I'll be useless afterwards." Naruto knew he was in it deep when she stopped her nuzzling. The fingernails digging into his chest were also a good hint.

"You're not using that jutsu." Her voice came out as soft as always, but he couldn't miss her killer intent. "Its too dangerous. Don't make me use 'it' to keep you from doing this." Naruto sighed and turned towards his girlfriend, already knowing he couldn't get into more trouble.

"I can take out at least half of their numbers in the beginning, my Tenshi-chan. I can make things that much easier on our soldiers!" He grabbed her hands and pulled them together in his own and kissed her knuckles. "We're outnumbered seven-to-one right now. I _have_ to do this! I can take out far more of them this way than in any other, and our soldiers won't be overwhelmed from the beginning."

"I know," she interrupted him before he could keep going. "I know. But that doesn't mean I like it." Naruto smiled and hugged her close.

"No, you don't. But it would be easy enough for you to protect me until I can fight again. Its a long-range jutsu, after all. It won't be like before, not with you in control of the Kyuubi, Tenshi-chan.." Hinata nodded, completely silent. After Naruto learned to control Kyuubi's chakra, they learned that he would be corrupted the longer he was under it's affects to the point of attacking anyone but Hinata, who he considered his mate, after only a few minutes. Now that they had put a special seal on a demonic artifact, Naruto was affectively under Hinata's every command while he was using the Kyuubi's chakra, protecting those around him.

"I ... suppose it has to be done." Within Naruto, a very large, red fox became infuriated. Using several of the cracks existing within the seal thanks to constant use over the past three years, she forced her influence and mind over Naruto's own, ignoring the searing pain this brought about thanks to the seal in place that kept her power under Hinata's control.

"**Like h-hell!"** She yelled through clenched teeth. **"Enter ... mind! Talk!"** Losing the fight against the seal, she allowed herself to be flung back into her seal to await a shocked Hinata and confused Naruto's arrival.

"W-what the hell," Naruto gasped. He could tell that the Kyuubi was worried about something, but unsure of exactly what it could be that would convince her to fight the seals in place strongly enough to actually break through them temporarily just to get out a message. The pain was severe enough that it had caused her to pass out the last time she tried.

"I ... don't know," Hinata said. "Kyuubi just broke through and said she wanted to talk to us." Naruto had his hands on his knees as he panted. Pain wasn't exactly one-way when the Kyuubi tried to push through like that. He just didn't get it anywhere nearly as bad.

"Do we go," he asked. Hinata shrugged in return.

"We've not got anything to lose." Naruto nodded and mumbled about masochistic, bastard foxes. The two went to Hinata's private tent next to the Godaime's for being her current apprentice and sat cross-legged on the ground, facing each other with their knees touching and began to meditate with Naruto taking Hinata directly into his mindscape.

It had changed over the years, becoming more of a large building with rooms filled with symbolic representations of all that he knew. But neither was willing to spend time going over everything and instead went to the library. It was the one place, aside from her room, that the Kyuubi would frequent. She refused to say why, but it was rare for her to not be there. Sadly, Hinata's control was only over the Kyuubi's power and not the Kyuubi herself.

Stepping into the room, they saw the Kyuubi in her human form sitting in a very large, overstuffed, leather chair. It was the only thing in the room that was of gargantuan size aside from the bookshelves themselves. She easily sat on the cushion that was large enough for all three of them with plenty of room to spare. As she looked up, her red eyes glinted with pure rage as the choker around her neck flared a deep and golden honey color.

"**You, Uzumaki Naruto, are an idiot."** Naruto blinked. Of all the things he had expected her to want to say or talk about, that most certainly wasn't one of them.

"What the hell are you talking about! You put us both in the agony of activating that seal and _that_ is what you have to say to me!" Kyuubi scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"**Bah! Take a seat and I'll explain exactly what I'm talking about."** She waited while the two did just that, wary of anything she may try on them.

"**Now, let me start from the beginning, and keep quiet while I talk. There's a lot to get through."** She situated herself and set her book down beside herself on the chair. **"Alright. You know your dad put the Shiki Fuuin on you, along with a few other seals to let you use my power and that I can't escape without instant death for the both of us. Correct?"** Still confused, both Naruto and Hinata nodded.

"**Good. Now here's the part that you didn't know. Hell, I didn't even know it until about two years ago, and even then, I wasn't sure until you tried that damned jutsu and-"**

"What are you talking about, Kyuubi," Naruto interrupted, causing the vixen in front of him to glare.

"**I was getting to that, brat! Now, until three years ago, you used my power sporadically and only when you needed to. Since getting that damned necklace made up, you've been using my power like I was a battery for you. What you _don't_ know, however, is that my chakra doesn't replenish itself."**

"WHAT!" Kyuubi nodded and sighed.

"**Brat, the last time you used that jutsu you're planning on using now, it took up over a third of my power. Because my body was from the demonic realm, or summon's realm to you humans, it disappeared back to my original lair after I was sealed within you. That means all of my chakra at that time was sealed within you while my body is stuck there, living, but not alive. However, since I'm not producing chakra, its like your dipping out of a well that has just barely under half of it's water still in it. Regardless of legend, I don't actually have infinite chakra. I just have so damned much that it would take generations of you pathetic flesh bags to see it even get dented."**

"Wait," Hinata began, "you're saying that any time Naruto-kun uses your power, he's draining what you have?" Kyuubi nodded, ignoring being interrupted again since she understood.

"**Correct. But not only that, once my chakra is gone, I cease to exist with the way this seal bound me. And without my power, which Naruto's body has learned to live with, will fail, causing him to die as well."** Both of them suddenly understood what she was saying. If he used her power without being careful, the two of them would simply die. And he was about to do a jutsu that nearly take away what was left.

"But ... I have to do this. Too many will die if I don't. I can watch what I use afterwards and-"

"**Foolish mortal! Using the jutsu again while you have access to all of my power now will use up almost, if not all, of my power! We _will_ die! That's why the lecher forbid you from using it when you went to rescue the tanuki!"** Naruto quickly glanced at Hinata and then back at Kyuubi, thoughts of helping his friends in their battle no matter the cost flashing through his mind. Hinata, however, was the smarter of the two and bashed him upside the back of his head.

"Don't even think about it!"

"But, Tenshi-chan I-"

"Don't you _dare_ Tenshi-chan me! You're too important to this whole thing than to throw your life away on a jutsu that we don't even know will take out as many as we think it will!" Naruto flinched back as she rose to her feet and leaned over him, the Kyuubi watching with amusement. Naruto was a nineteen year old man, one of the strongest of his village even without her own power, and was cowering in fear from the girl in front of him. If time weren't so important, she'd love to watch this continue, but sadly, they were on a very tight schedule.

"**If you please, I have another option available to us."** Both Naruto and Hinata looked at Kyuubi in surprise, blinking, as if they'd forgotten she were there. **_'Really, you'd think that I wasn't important or something! Pfft!'_**

"What do you mean, Kyuubi?" Kyuubi sighed as Hinata sat back down and Naruto pressed himself against the far edge, aware from her ire.

"**Listen. I currently have just a little over half of my original power. That is still a massive amount compared to your whole village. What I propose is to go back in time to stop many of the deaths you now have and empower yourselves with your current knowledge."**

"You mean, you can actually take us back in time?" Kyuubi nodded and held up a finger.

"**I can, and will. Under a few conditions to keep this from happening all over again."** Naruto and Hinata looked at each other before Hinata tuned to the demon and nodded.

"We can at least hear you out."

"**Very well. What I suggest is going back in time, and you not using my power at all. Instead, we do something different."**

"Like what," Naruto asked.

"**While I'm within you, I cannot regain any lost chakra. However, I can,"** she paused and made a face to show she was highly displeased with this option, **"give you the kitsune summoning contract. You won't be able to summon anyone other than myself, as I'll have to write the contract up, but it will work, and you may summon me for battle any time you wish. By being summoned, I'll be given my old body and my chakra will replenish each time I'm summoned, so its a winning situation for us all."**

"That's it? All we have to do is offer to summon you at any time other than using your power?" Kyuubi looked a little sheepish for a moment and looked away from the two in front of her.

"**No. You see, when you go back, it will be only your memories. Your chakra levels, your physical attributes and appearances, all of those will be the same you of your past. It will be just like it was then, only your current minds. Because of this, your chakra control, both of you, will be nearly astronomical, since control is made up of physical and mental energies, the control being mental and the levels being physical. But, to make you both go back in time, or either of you, really, you can't be human. You will need to blend with me a little."** Naruto was suddenly skeptical while Hinata was curious.

"And exactly what does that mean?"

"**You will gain increased speed, strength, senses and a thrill for battle. Also, your chakra levels will raise greatly, but nothing like what you have now. You will effectively become hanyou, or half demons. Human in all regards with all the benefits. I can control that much, at least. You'll gain tails, ears, clawed hands and the senses like those of a fox, except your hands will just have stronger and thicker nails. But you'll be able to hide these changes at will, so don't worry about that,**" she quickly said when she saw Naruto taking a deep breath to yell. "**Doing this at all makes this merger impossible to escape, as it will happen regardless, but you will remain your human selves. Though ... the merger will also create a bond between the two of you,"** Kyuubi watched as they seemed to think it over until Hinata asked the question she'd been waiting for.

"Exactly what kind of a bond is that?" Kyuubi fidgeted slightly before answering, unsure how they would take this.

"**A bond of mates."** Hinata's face erupted into a fierce blush as a huge grin spread across her visage. Naruto himself paled drastically and was about to yell out at the Kyuubi until he noticed Hinata's face. That wasn't the face of a girl who was upset with the idea.

"H-Hinata-chan? What do," Naruto looked between the two females nervously, "what do you think of this?" Hinata got up with a smile and kissed him deeply.

"That this is a great idea," she said brightly before turning back to Kyuubi. "And you still have enough strength to send us all back, even at half?" Kyuubi nodded.

"**Yes. You see, everything you know and see outside will cease to exist. We will go backwards and erase everything from the point of our return and everything will alter depending on what we change. By going backwards, our energies will take over that from whatever we had at that point in time as we go back. Basically, we'll be getting recharged by our past selves as we pass each moment with whatever energy that they had at the time."** She waited a few moments while they considered it before speaking again. **"We really don't have a lot of time to think it over, however. Even getting slight recharges from our past selves, it won't be enough to keep us going. Just allow us to go back that tiny fraction of a second more and, with the war about to start, we can't afford to waste anything."**

"Why did you wait so long to offer this? If it has to happen, shouldn't you have offered it when you realized it?" Kyuubi was surprised Naruto had caught that, but answered nonetheless.

"**I would have, but I was honestly hoping to come up with a way to seperate us so that I wouldn't ... cease to exist."** She shuddered as the idea of simply not being flashed through her mind. **"I would rather live in your fuzzy navel than not at all. If I died this way, I wouldn't even go back to hell or heaven. I would simply cease to be."** The two humans watched as Kyuubi's eyes widened as she spoke and a frightened light lit behind them. **"You can't understand how horrible it would be to live hundreds of millions of years and then be faced with something like that!"** As Kyuubi closed her eyes and tried to calm down and stop her slight shaking, Naruto and Hinata looked at one another, a silent agreement made almost immediately.

"What do we have to do?" Shocked out of her attempts to calm herself, Kyuubi flinched slightly when Hinata spoke before nodding.

"**If you're ready, we can go now. You're already touching, and you're giving permission, which is all I need now. I've had everything else prepared already. There's just one more thing I'm going to ask."** Naruto and Hinata watched as they watched Kyuubi squirm in her seat.

"What's that, Kyuubi?"

"**I know I'll have to be good, and I promise to. Even with the necklace you've got now, which you can remake in the past, you'll be able to be sure of that but,"** she blushed lightly and squirmed a little more before squaring her shoulders. **"I want you to summon me at least twice a week so that I can experience the world again. I can control my size and transform into my human form that you see now. I ... Its ... lonely in here all by myself,"** she finished with a whisper. She had spent years, centuries really, all by herself in her past. But she had always experienced life through her own eyes and her own experiences. Living life through Naruto, and being forced to experience what he did, she yearned for the very same things he had, but didn't have anyone within his mind to fulfill the needs that he ended up with in so many different people. Naruto and Hinata, however, simply saw this as what it seemed. A soul who was alone for nineteen years and didn't want to be any more.

"I can do that. Just make sure you be good, otherwise, it ends." Kyuubi nodded before closing her eyes and appearing to concentrate. Suddenly, the whole mindscape disappeared and they watched as every experience they had seemingly rewound itself until things became unbearably white.

xXxXxXx

The room was spinning as Naruto tried to sit up and get his bearings. It had taken several minutes before the back and forth motions seemed to stop and the room finally steadied itself enough for him to truly look around. He saw dirty clothes strewn about the bedroom, empty ramen cups everywhere and trashcans filled to overflowing.

"Sweet Kami this place is a dump," he groused as he crawled out of bed, only to stumble and fall flat on his face. "OW! What the hell!"

"**Ha! That was brilliant!"**

"What the hell is going on?" Kyuubi laughed at Naruto even harder than she was.

"**You're shorter than you were before. You tried to move around like you were before you went back! Haha!"** Naruto growled about Karma and having displeased some god somewhere in a past life as he got up and showered, then put on his orange jumpsuit.

"Oi, fox? When did we go back to," he asked as he noticed his old goggles where he always left it until he got his forehead protector.

"**I'm not sure. It doesn't work that way. We went backwards, though."** Naruto sighed as he realized he was really beginning to dislike having gone back.

"I guess I'll find Hinata-chan and we can find out. If I've still got this thing, then we must be in the Academy somewhere." Getting everything he had, along with a blank scroll and pen, he left quickly after creating several kage bunshin to clean up his apartment and made his way towards the Academy, just in case he had classes that day.

xXxXxXx

Hinata sat up and looked around, having much better stability than Naruto did. Looking over her clothes and at her calendar, she realized they were only a month from the Genin Selection Exams. With a smile, she got out of bed and carefully oriented herself as she went to take a quick bath, reestablish herself with her height and reach and meet up with Naruto. They had a lot to talk about, and plenty of time for a Saturday.

After getting dressed in her usual outfit for the time period she had reentered, she began her walk to exit the house, enjoying the sight of her home still undamaged from war. She left the grounds with a large smile on her face and a bounce in her step. Three years of war were simply erased from her mental image over Konoha as she looked at everything with fresh, new eyes.

As quickly as she could, she went directly towards Naruto's apartment and found an orange blob rushing off towards the Academy. With a smile, she took off after him, closing the distance rapidly before tackling him to the ground.

"Oomph!" Both went tumbling along the ground, the villagers looking on in shock and curiousity until they came to a stop with Naruto on his back and Hinata straddling him stomach with a large, cheesy grin.

"Hello, Hinata-chan," he wheezed, still disoriented from the sudden attack.

"Hello, Naruto-kun." She got off and grabbed him by the ear, getting a yelp of shock from the boy. "Now come on! There's no way you're keeping those horrible jumpsuits anymore!" She began to drag Naruto as he hunched over slightly and walked quickly to keep up with her. The villagers who witnessed the whole event chuckled as they watched the Hyuuga heiress drag Naruto around.

xXxXxXx

Yamanaka Ino was minding her parents' flower shop when she saw shy, demure little Hyuuga Hinata literally dragging her long-standing crush by his ears, mindless of the begging and pleading he was doing to be released and that he'd follow her willingly if she'd just let him go.

"Mom! Something came up, I've gotta go!" Ino ran out of the door to her shop, ignoring the jingle of the bell and ran up to Hinata.

"Hey you two, what's up?" Naruto shuffled over so he could look at Ino as he spoke to her.

"Uh, apparently, we decided orange isn't a very good color for a ninja and I am currently being convinced into going and getting something new." Ino snickered as she looked at Hinata, obviously the one in charge.

"Want any help?" Hinata thought about it for a moment before agreeing. In the previous timeline, she had never been one for shopping. It was either a Branch member who did whatever shopping was necessary or she went with the girls while they shopped. Ino's experience would be very helpful while looking for deals and, Hinata had to admit, the girl had a fashion sense greater than her own.

"That should be okay. We're going to be getting him a full wardrobe, and some new equipment, so it may take a little while. Are you okay with that?" Ino's smile only became predatory.

"Very much so! This is what I live for!" Naruto squirmed under Hinata's grip, knowing that getting away would put him into the Inuzuka complex, so to speak.

"Don't I get a say in this?" Both girls looked at him, almost having forgotten he was there.

"No," they both replied, causing the boy to let out a whimper. Hinata turned back to Ino and frowned.

"I'll allow it under one condition. I don't want to hear any crap about the Uchiha that is unneeded, do you understand?" Ino's eyes widened as Hinata voiced her demands, unsure how any girl could not want to talk about him.

"Why not? He's-" Hinata raised her hand sharply, instantly quieting the other girl before forcing Hinata to kill something.

"Because I have absolutely no interest in him and would rather not talk about something so mundane or droll as he is. You have the right to stop me from talking about a topic you don't want to speak about, or talk about the Uchiha with someone else if you meet them, but not to me." Ino still wasn't sure how any sane girl could not like Uchiha Sasuke, the boy was a gift from above! But then again, this _was_ the same girl who liked Uzumaki, dead-last, Naruto.

"I can live with that." Hinata smiled and dragged a squirmy, squeaky Naruto to one of her favourite clothing shops. They were a bit more upscale than Naruto would have probably tried to enter on his own, but she knew they'd cater to him at her wish. The couple who ran the store were simply too professional and nice.

As they entered, a bell tingled from above the door, alerted the couple to their presence and Ino turned to Hinata.

"Hinata, isn't this a little more ritzy than Naruto can afford?" From beneath Hinata's hand, Naruto piped up his own thought.

"Especially when you brought me before I could get any extra aside from what I carry for lunch?" Hinata let go of Naruto and smiled brightly.

"I'll put everything on the Hyuuga tab, you can just pay me back later."

"Alright." Ino was surprised Naruto would allow Hinata to do such a thing. That he allowed it meant he knew he could afford it or thought he'd be able to get out of having to pay at a later time, but that seemed to go against everything Naruto was and his beliefs. She may not know the kid on much of a personal level, but his values were hard to miss.

"Good evening, Lady Hinata. How may we assist you today?" Matsuki, the wife of Dojin, was the nicer and less formal of the two and always treated Hinata more like a granddaughter than client. A fact that almost always gave Dojin a heart attack at the familiarity. It didn't help the man's disposition that his wife was like that with almost every child that entered.

"Hello Matsuki! I've decided that Naruto-kun here has finally outgrown orange," they all ignored Naruto's grumbling as she continued, "and would like to get him looking respectable. We're going for a whole new wardrobe today." Matsuki nodded as she grabbed Naruto's arms and squeezed, more like testing meat before buying it and then poking and prodding the boy in the chest.

"Also, Matsuki. Could we close down the store while we get our things? I'd like to not be bothered." Naruto was paling faster than if he'd seen a ghost.

"Just how much do you expect me to get!" He was again ignored as Matsuki nodded and simply closed the door and locked it.

For the next hour and a half, Hinata and Ino pointed out materials and designs and argued over what he would look best in. After ten minutes, and Matsuki's taking control and saying he was _her_ customer, she finally sided with half of Hinata's ideas and half of Ino's, making both girls happy and appreciative as the new idea was better than both of their own. From there, Naruto became nothing more than a life-sized dress-up doll, getting poked with pins to hold materials up and moved about as it was faster than telling him how to position himself.

Ino, for her part, was in a state of confusion for nearly the entirety of the visit to the shop. Unless Naruto was working with his underwear, he had apparently no issues with taking anything else off in another's presence. While she was initially shocked, and then about to yell at the boy for public displays of indecency, she got a good glimpse of the boy beneath the shirt and her anger was washed away by pure shock. The boy had _muscles_! While he certainly wasn't near the league of a body builder, he was lean and had muscles that put even her Sasuke-kun to shame! She, and all of the girls, had known when to peek on some of Sasuke's training sessions and he would sometimes go without a shirt. She remembered being so impressed, but even the last Uchiha had nothing on Naruto! Every movement from the blonde had some kind of ripple effect on the muscles she could see and that caused her to stand and stare more than help with anything else. Hinata and Matsuki were so wrapped up in Naruto's clothes that they didn't even notice and Naruto himself had, from almost the beginning, just closed his eyes and allowed himself to be handled as they saw fit. It would be over that much quicker.

After an hour and a half, Matsuki had all the measurements she would need and combinations for each item of clothing and would have them ready in a week. They originally offered to deliver the new clothes, but no one wanted to risk that in Naruto's neighborhood. They didn't get too much, seeing as how they were going to be working out and growing larger rather soon, but they got two weeks' worth of clothing for the sake of having it. Ino was very surprised when Naruto offered to buy her an outfit as thanks for her help and gladly accepted, getting a pretty summer dress in a light red color.

After leaving, they made their way to Tenten's family's weapon shop. They had nothing against Naruto in the future, so they made a quick stop for Naruto's new equipment there since it was on the way to the ninja outfitting store that all of the Hyuuga clan used for their business. They had the best of everything and the widest selection available. They made sure of that when the wealthiest clan solely used them for literally _all_ of their needs. Naruto and Ino followed her into the large store and looked around in surprise at the huge assortment of weapons and jutsu scrolls.

"Ah, Hyuuga-sama," the proprietor began. "What can I do for you and your," he paused and sneered at Naruto, being one of those who truly hated the boy, "companions?"

"We're here to completely outfit Naruto with new equipment and get a few new items for myself as well," Hinata stated, already planning on getting a few scrolls and outfits.

"I'm sorry, Hyuuga-sama, but we do not cater to ... his needs. He has wronged us in the past and-" Hinata cut the man off with a glare and cold voice.

"Stop your foolish ramblings!" Everyone around her snapped their heads to her and stared in open-mouthed shock. "I know _exactly_ what you are speaking about and that wasn't Naruto. It was some_thing_ else!" The proprietor stepped back in fear and shock as Hinata took a step closer to him.

"You will either outfit my friends or I swear to you that you will lose all Hyuuga business for the rest of your time in Konoha! I don't think you'll do too well in your profit margin for the products you buy before being able to sell them quickly enough. Do you?" The man before Hinata shuddered and quickly plastered a smile onto his face.

"Ah! I'm, ah, sure we can work something out! There's no need to be hasty now, Hyuuga-sama. I'm sure we can outfit each of your friends with anything they need!" He rushed over and put up the closed sign on the door so the very influential Hyuuga heiress wouldn't be disturbed and as few people as possible would see the 'demon brat' within his store.

They quickly set Naruto up with black cargo pants that held many loops to hold scrolls, which Naruto held a penchant for using after his time training with Jiraiya. He'd really turned into a pack rat, saving any books he'd obtained, weapons he found and equipment and supplies so he always had them if and when he needed them. One of the downsides of growing up without much was that he had a tendency to squirrel things away. And he'd already made plans to do just that once again. It was actually a habit that had helped out in the future. He had learned almost nothing of ninjutsu or genjutsu, but Jiraiya had plans of turning him into a true apprentice, starting with seals and pure physical conditioning to use more of the Kyuubi's chakra at a time and Naruto had taken the bit on seals to heart when he learned the Yondaime learned everything from the old pervert.

He was given a large assortment of dark green, black, white, dark brown and camouflage shirts and new combat boots instead of the sandals he use to wear at that point in the time period. Ino and Hinata made sure that all of his undershirts were reinforced with a protective layer of wire mesh and Hinata was also very sure to add a metal protection plate to cover Naruto's groin.

"Why on earth do you want to put _THAT_ on his pants," Ino finally asked after Hinata finished her specifications to the shop owner.

"Because, Ino-chan," Hinata demurred. "I rather like it and don't want to see it come to harm. Its a vulnerable location on any male, after all, and very debilitating." While the statement itself was true, Hinata didn't mention how that very attack is what caused Shikamaru to lose a fight roughly five years from that date and end up getting killed. To Ino, however, it sounded far more gossip-worthy.

"You... like it," she whispered, a slow grin showing up on her face. "And exactly what do you like about it? Have you seen something you shouldn't have," she whispered, leaning in close to the Hyuuga heiress conspiratorially. Hinata, on her part, blushed lightly, not having actually meant to say that first bit. It just kind of came out. But at least she could try and make some of the girls be nicer to Naruto if she let out some of their secrets. At least those that didn't affect them negatively.

"I _do_ have the Byakugan, Ino-chan. I can see through anything. He's twice as big as any of the other boys in our class," she told her quietly, actually enjoying the look of shock on Ino's face.

"So, you've seen his-"

"Not directly, no," she quickly assured Ino. It wasn't a lie, actually. They had been dating for a few months before their return and they hadn't really gone too far into their relationship physically due in part because of the war, but mostly because she wanted to wait and Naruto was very willing to wait until she was sure. That didn't mean she didn't have her moments of weakness, however.

"So," Ino fidgeted, "have you seen Sasuke-kun's..." Hinata nodded reluctantly.

"Its inevitable. I'm given all-around vision like a bubble. I have no choice who I see." Ino grabbed her by the shoulders and shook the girl a little roughly.

"Well?" Hinata grabbed Ino's hand and held up Ino's index finger to herself, making Ino wonder why she was looking at her own hand.

"That finger is bigger than he is." Ino's eyes widened in mute shock All of her dreams and all of her fantasies had always had him as large as apparently Naruto seemed to be. But this didn't seem right. Sasuke is the last Uchiha! He is supposed to be perfect so he can resurrect his clan!

"There's no way Sasuke-kun is that small! You're just-"

"Just what, Ino," Hinata asked with ice in her voice. "You know I don't care for him in any way. You know that I have no reason to lie and that I am not the type to want to make my Naruto-kun appear to be any better than anyone else for no reason." Ino blinked in shock as Hinata once again seemed to speak up and make her voice heard.

"Besides. You can enter others' minds. Have you really never entered Sasuke's and looked?" Ino's face blushed an incredible crimson and sweat formed over her brow as she looked around nervously.

"Er ... Actually, I never ... thought about it ... that way." Suddenly, the possibilities seemed endless. So many days left before Genin Selection exams, so many trips to the restroom! With a smile, Hinata left Ino to her thoughts as she decided to help Naruto with making sure that protective plate fit properly. She was a very happy soon-to-be kunoichi.

xXxXxXx

Naruto and Hinata finally got all of Naruto's things and sealed them in a scroll temporarily. They didn't want to leave all of his new things loose around his apartment or anything in case any of the villagers got curious about his new things. They could remember that happening until a little after the Chuunin exams when the villagers found out what he'd done for them. Those storage seals were going to be a god-send.

Now, however, they were in Naruto's apartment with Hinata sitting in Naruto's lap with her back against him as he held her in his arms.

"So, what's our plan? We've got a month before the Genin Selection exams and then team placements." Hinata snuggled deeper into Naruto's embrace as she voiced her concerns. "I don't want to be on a team with Kiba again. The bastard made far too many passes and peeped on Kurenai-sensei and myself too many times. I'll end up killing him this time around."

"Well, I'm going to try and fail the Genin tests again so Mizuki will get me to steal the Forbidden Scroll again. Baa-chan wound up having to destroy it during the second invasion, so it was all lost. I want to make a copy of it with one of Jiji's jutsu."

"That sounds like a good plan. When you start using seals like Ero-Sennin taught you, no one will notice some extras like that." Naruto nodded.

"Right, and if I seal it into my body with chakra-sensitive seals like I did some of my more important stuff, then no one even has to know the copies exist." That had been one of Naruto's more favourite ideas in his future days. Crafting a few storage seals on his body so they looked like normal tattoo's kept suspicion away from them and no one had ever figured out what they were. Not even Akatsuki and their information specialist.

"What about team placements?" Hinata tilted her head back and kissed Naruto on the curve of his chin, causing him to smile and kiss her on the forehead.

"I can make sure we're on the same team. The old man owes me one, and I can call him on this. I just can't guarantee who the third member or our sensei will be." Hinata grabbed Naruto's arms and wrapped them around her chest and hugged him to her.

"What about the invasion or Sasuke's defection and Gaara and the Akatsuki and-"

"We'll just have to get stronger and take everything as we can. We can't do anything about the invasion or Akatsuki as we are right now. And alerting anyone will cause trouble like we can't even hope to get out of." He could feel Hinata shudder in his arms. They both knew that they're explanations that nothing physical changed would be heeded and they'd eventually end up being tested if they could prove their story, which they'd have to do to be taken seriously, and then they'd end up probably getting tortured for information on jutsu and Konoha's enemies' movements and alignments. These were just some of the things they could think of. Neither of them had spent time as interrogators and were worried they were looking on the bright side of what may happen.

"We should spend our time training together. At this point in time, I was still introverted and you were ... well ... you," she said, smiling at him. "We'll say I helped you with your chakra control, you helped me with confidence and were a training partner for Jyuuken. We can't do anything too strong until after we've made our teams." Naruto nodded, agreeing with all of it.

"True, but we can get much better after that and just say we were holding back until we made Genin, he said.

"You mean like you were doing until Chuunin?" Naruto nodded and chuckled, amused by the comparison.

"Well, better than that. I was smarter than I let on, but my skills were really as bad as they seemed. I was just oblivious to it." Hinata got up and turned to face him and sat back in his lap again, her legs on either side of him before leaning in and kissing him deeply. After a few moments, she kissed down his jawline and then hugged him tightly.

"Well, now you have the knowledge _and_ the skills. We'll just have to build up our bodies." Naruto frowned as he realized several things that had seemed off during the day.

"Now that you mention it, I don't remember my body being this developed the first time around. I was always wiry, but my muscles are far more developed. More like when I got back from my training with Ero-Sennin." Hinata cocked her head to the side and thought for a moment before putting her hands underneath of his shirt and running her hands over his chest and abs, enjoying the familiar feel of the ridges and twinging as she hit spots she knew to be ticklish.

"You're right. This _is_ like your body when you returned," she said with a smile, causing Naruto to smirk.

"Saucy little minx, aren't you?" Hinata laughed and nibbled his neck.

"Damn right, Naruto-kun," she said. "Do you think its the changes Kyuubi talked about?"

"I'm not sure," he said, frowning. "I thought we were supposed to get ears, tails and all that other stuff, but I don't seem much different yet aside from this."

"We should talk to her now and see what she has to say." Naruto nodded and simply closed his eyes to concentrate since he already had physical contact with Hinata. Almost immediately, they found themselves within the dank sewer-like halls within Naruto's mind.

"She ... isn't going to be happy about this." Hinata giggled and pulled him along.

"Don't worry, Naruto-kun. We can change it to how you had it later."

"True," he admitted, "but we were only able to make the changes after the seal weakened and was malleable and-" Naruto stopped short as he walked into the room that traditionally held the Kyuubi within her barred cage with Hinata right beside him, just as shocked.

Instead of a mountain of a fox within an even larger cage, they found the Kyuubi in her human form, sitting on a bed in what looked like a normal bedroom and looking extremely bored. Even her 'human' form that she had changed since the time they'd last seen her. Her red hair was longer than her shoulders as it was and now hung to her waist and her actual body was less beast-like in muscle definition and posture and now appeared to be truly human, save for the 'feature's she said they would soon have. The only thing that showed this wasn't an every day scene in any home in Konoha was the glowing choker around her neck with the Uzumaki spiral centered at the front of her throat.

"**So,"** she began. **"Do you want the good news or the bad news first?"**

"K-Kyuubi? What happened?" Instead of answering right away, Kyuubi motioned with her hand to a small couch and the two sat, not exactly comfortable with a Kyuubi that seemed to be as free as she was in the future without the binding of the demonic artifact necklace that had been made for them.

"**Well, there's good news and bad. So I'll start with the obvious."** She situated herself on the bed so she was laying on her side, supporting herself with her arm.

"**I'm not actually sure _how_ it happened, but you two got off very lucky. That necklace you guys had that allowed you to control my power was tied directly to me and, as such, came back with us."**

"So you still can't use any of your power without Hinata's permission," Naruto asked. That sounded like a good deal. That just meant they were that much better off this early in the beginning. However, Kyuubi grimaced and positively apoplectic and growled at him, making him wonder.

"**No. As much as I would prefer that to my current circumstance, there was no control seal tied directly into either of you. That means that the seal acted on it's own."**

"What do you mean," Hinata asked. "Are you okay?" Kyuubi looked at Hinata and simply blinked. The girl's caring nature always threw her for a loop. Sometimes, she was uncaring towards her, and sometimes, she was like a mother hen, this being one of the latter.

"**It depends on what you consider 'okay', I'm afraid. As of the moment we went back in time, I ..."** she blushed and looked down, not event wanting to say it. It was just too horrible to have actually happened to someone of her calibre.

"Damn it, Kyuubi. Just tell us everything you're trying to hide already!" Naruto yelled, getting fed up with having to wait for answers. However, when the woman in front of him yelped in severe pain and jerked violently, he began to wonder if maybe he should have allowed her to go at her own speed.

"**Ah! I'M YOUR SLAVE NOW!"** She yelled out in pain, which stopped it suddenly. **"The seal reacted in the only way that would allow it to maintain it's usual functions without the control seal that Hinata always wore. As such, it bound me to her's, and your own, life forces. Now that we've returned, I'm bound to the both of you."** Both Hinata and Naruto stared in wide-eyed shock. The strongest demon in existence was now completely and totally their slave.

"Are you serious," Naruto asked quietly, still not fully out of his shock. Kyuubi simply scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"**Quite, mortal. I can feel the seal and its effects. I,"** she stopped and scrunched up her face, trying to figure out how to explain it, **"can _feel_ what I am supposed to do. I feel compelled to do your bidding and to please you."** She shook her head furiously, getting rid of the thoughts that flew through her head. **"Believe me when I tell you that I would have had to have thought long and hard between this and non-existence had I known the affects it would have had."** Naruto and Hinata looked at each other before Naruto turned his attention back to the red-haired woman in front of him.

"So, you have to do anything we tell you, no matter what?" Kyuubi grimaced, but nodded.

"**Yes, so long as it is within my ability to do it. I cannot, however, knowingly attack either of you or those you command me not to, or those who are allied to you two specifically."**

"Well ... That's ..." Hinata wasn't sure exactly what it was at this point. She'd never been happy with the Caged Bird seal because it was a milder form of the current situation, but this was complete and total domination. A part of her held no reservations of having a demon under control like this while the larger part of her felt it was a crime against life.

"Okay," Naruto said, breaking the uncomfortable silence. "We'll deal with that later. I'm not really sure how we can do that, exactly, but we'll just have to think on it. What about my body? And what about the tails and nails and ears and all that other random stuff you told us about? Why haven't we gotten those yet?" Kyuubi sighed. This was going to be a long explanation if the boy hadn't become as smart as he seemed to be in the future.

"**Alright. I'll give you the long version and hope its clear. Basically, when we went back, you had to merge slightly with me, which meant my power. Because I'm a fox, and my power is of myself, it is genetically predisposed to be 'fox-like'. There may not be any physical attribute to it in here while I'm within you, but it was created of my physical fox body and my fox mind. With me so far?"** Naruto and Hinata nodded, actually understanding so far. Basically, humans had chakra that they had because they were humans and demons had demon chakra. And since so many demons were different, that would explain why it was different colors and felt different.

"**Good. Now, when we merged slightly so I could take you back with me and not start the same history we had before all over again, my chakra changed your own, but made you a little ... _foxy_ ... I suppose. Basically, that means that you have your normal human bodies and thoughts that you started with, and added a little fox into the mix."**

"What does that actually mean," Naruto interrupted. "Are we turning into foxes or what?"

"**No,"** the Kyuubi sighed again, **"you are not turning into foxes. At least not fully. You see, when we merged to allow you to come back, you each had some of my chakra put into yours. Well, a _lot_ is more accurate. Because of that, once you entered your previous bodies, that merger began to slowly change your physical forms to match your hanyou forms you will be getting. Basically, the regeneration you, Naruto, already had, is fixing you to what it believes you should be. And now, Hinata is the same. Its just happening in Naruto a little faster because I'm inside of him and there's that much more of my own chakra."**

"So, you're saying we could wake up one day and simply have tails and ears and such?"

"**Yes. But tails and ears will be among the last things to come about. Well, in a way."** Naruto narrowed his eyes as Kyuubi cringed.

"What do you mean 'in a way', Kyuubi?"

"**Well, I'm inside of you and I can control the transformation. But I cannot do anything for Hinata without being in her to do so. So where I can make certain things change at a time, with Hinata's happening all at once when they start."**

"WHAT!" Kyuubi cringed, hoping even stronger than she had since they entered that he didn't accidentally give her an order that meant her life.

"**Well, I can alter the transformation as needed because I've got a direct link inside of you, but I don't with her!"** Naruto and Hinata sat against each other on the couch in silence for several minutes before the Kyuubi offered another option.

"**But ... I _may_ be able to keep it safe for her and you both."** Naruto eyed her suspiciously, causing her to fidget restlessly. **"There ... is a way to break a seal into multiple parts even _after_ it's creation. We can do that with the Shiki Fuuin seal and I will be able to be there for both of you to control the changes and my power can be drawn by either of you."**

"But I thought you said we couldn't use your power anymore," Hinata said, causing the Kyuubi to nod her head.

"**You can't. Not like Naruto did in your past. But I can heal you both even faster than your increased regeneration. This will also allow me to come out on my own and offer a mental link like what Naruto shares with me now with you, Hinata."** Both Naruto and Hinata could see the benefits of such a link between them. If nothing else, that would have made it worth it.

"How can we be sure that you are really bound by what we say? I mean, if we do that and you can come out at will, then what's to keep you from hurting anyone?" Hinata asked. Unfortunately, there was no way for them to know for sure. They could try to order the Kyuubi to do something, but if she was looking for an out so they would allow her this to escape, then she'd simply do it. However, talking it over, they found that everything was as they were told. At least in regards to what they could confirm.

"I think," Hinata paused and bit her lower lip while turning to Naruto, "that we should do it, Naruto-kun. So far, I have not yet seen a reason not to believe in her." Naruto sat quietly for several minutes before finally nodding.

"Alright. Just to be sure its been said, just in case. Kyuubi. You may not do anything to bring harm to myself or Hinata except what may be necessary for this to work. You may not harm anyone within Konoha and if you bring about Hinata's death, you must kill yourself immediately." Kyuubi's eyes widened, but she shook her head and thought through the commands quickly.

"**I see no problems with those commands. We shouldn't be attacked as there won't be any chakra transference between the two of you and this isn't dangerous unless you are worse at seals than I think you to be. We should have no problems and it should only take a few minutes after finishing the seals to have it all completed, but it may knock Hinata unconscious for a few hours. And by doing this, and by turning into hanyou, your reserves will grow quickly, so you'll want to constantly be doing chakra control exercises."** Naruto nodded and turned to Hinata.

"Think we should do it tomorrow morning? As early as possible?" Hinata nodded.

"I'll be by about six or earlier. I can't stay at the Hyuuga compound too late or I'll get pulled into getting something done. But if worse comes to worse, I can probably offer a test of the Kaiten and explain that you helped me with the power aspect while I taught you chakra control. I doubt it will come to that, however," she said. She then turned to the Kyuubi.

"How long should I be out, do you think?" Shrugging, the Kyuubi responded.

"**No more than probably three hours and as few as just a few minutes. It really depends on how well you take to it. Being receptive to what's happening, it will reduce the time. But writing the seals will take about an hour to be sure we don't mess any of them up and it will have to cover most of your body."** Hinata waved off the need of nudity.

"I have no problems getting naked in front of Naruto-kun for this," she said, inwardly smirking at Naruto's blushing smile. "I trust him not to do anything ... _naughty_ ... with my unconscious, naked body." She giggled when she heard Naruto gulp, amused that she could get a reaction out of him. But then she realized this wasn't exactly a good time for it, but she hadn't thought of it before then and she was teasing him more than even before they went back.

"Kyuubi, I've been teasing Naruto-kun more today than I did before we came back. Does that have to do with the changes we're going through?" Kyuubi nodded.

"**Yes. You will be almost entirely who you were before we came back, but you were given slightly more ... I'm not sure how to say it ... _baser_ or maybe _animalistic_ ideas and tendencies. Basically, you are who you were, but now you have fewer inhibitions towards certain aspects of your minds because its trying to mix partly with the mind of a fox, say ten percent, and your mind, by the rest of the ninety percent. There will be some things that you will allow to change so you remain as close to the same as you can."**

"Such as what, exactly? What do you think is most likely for us to change," Naruto asked.

"**Well, apparently your relationship and similar things like that, it would seem. You're probably going to be highly affectionate because humans don't have a single period of time that they mate like we do. So instead of being purely about taking each other physically and constantly at a single point, you will instead be affectionate always."**

"That ... makes sense, actually," Hinata agreed. "So this is basically something that keeps me from wanting to," she looked at Naruto and blushed, "have sex constantly with him?" Kyuubi made a 'somewhat' gesture with her hand before responding.

"**Almost exactly right. You may still want to have sex, but you won't physically need to or be controlled by it. You will be in full control over your emotions at all times, except for loving gestures like marking each other, or hugging to you humans, kissing and such."**

"**Then you'll probably enjoy battle more. Not killing itself,"** Kyuubi rushed to assure them as they both opened their mouths to voice their disapproval, **"but you will enjoy the fight. You'll enjoy the hunt and such, but you will _not_ want to go about simply for the sake of killing. Not unless you were predisposed to do that already. And you'll probably enjoy meat much better and not care as much for vegetables."** Naruto and Hinata sat for only a few moments before Naruto shrugged.

"It doesn't seem all that bad to me so far. I've always enjoyed fighting my enemies and showing my strength, but I didn't care to just get into a fight just to fight."

"I wasn't much for fighting, but I enjoy showing my strength," Hinata amended for herself while Kyuubi nodded with a smile.

"**Exactly! Demons, in general, love to show their strength. Usually its to themselves with killing,**" she said, somewhat sheepishly, **"but your own personalities will keep that from happening, guaranteed."** The other two nodded to show their agreement to the plan. Really, if they wanted to keep things safe and without the entirety of Konoha finding out that something drastic happened, it had to be done.

"What about this mental link thing," Naruto asked. "How will that work?"

"**Well, I'm not totally sure. I believe it will be like you and I share. We can speak and get a general idea of what the other is feeling, but it may be weaker or stronger. I just don't truly know. I've never worked with anything like this before."** While disappointed, both decided to move on and see what else they could figure out before they had to leave.

"Okay," Naruto began. "We'll slowly be turning into hanyou and you can control it, but we have to split the Shiki Fuuin in order for you to make sure Hinata's transformation. By splitting the seal between us, we will have some kind of mental link that could be nothing, or give us some super awesome way to communicate to each other and by going back in time, the control seal we had so your chakra wouldn't corrupt me while using it changed and made you mine and Hinata's slave. Is there anything we've missed?" Kyuubi shook her head, looking thoughtful.

"**No. That seems to be everything. A summoning contract is simply an agreed upon set of rules and method of actions allowed. With my ... _situation_ ... in being forced into whatever you tell me to do, that substitutes any contract you and I could make together,"** Kyuubi was certainly far from happy about her situation, and that was obvious to both Naruto and Hinata.

"So we can both use the same summoning seals I used for Gamabunta and the other toads?"

"**Yes. You just need to think of me instead of the toad you want."** Naruto and Hinata nodded. Hinata was happy Naruto had allowed her to sign the summoning contract not long after the war got worse. It kept her from having to learn it all over again.

"Alright. So have we got anything else we need to talk about right now?" Kyuubi began to shake her head until she saw Hinata's eyes light up and raise her hand slightly.

"Actually, I just want to confirm," she said looking at the Kyuubi. "I won't get to a point where I physically need to have sex and, like I've seen of some animals, just go to any man and-" Kyuubi instantly shook her head and interrupted Hinata.

"**No! No, no, no. You'll be gaining fox-like attributes in that regard. While you would normally be like that as a full demon, where you need the physical mating bit, this is not like that. You may feel extremely promiscuous, but Naruto will be the only male you have any interest in what-so-ever. Foxes aren't like wolves, who mate for life, but the Alpha male gets his choice of the females and the females are fully faithful, even to the point of getting downright vicious towards males who are too stupid to try and draw the female's attentions or smell that she's been marked."** Hinata scrunched up her face in thought.

"So ... I may get the urge to have sex with him, but I will never care to have another man?"

"**You simply won't have any interest in other males at all. Because of your human side, you can flirt with a man,"** she smartly ignored Naruto's growling, **"as your job as a ninja may require, but you will never allow a man to touch you in a manner you reserve for Naruto."** Hinata nodded, understanding.

"I can live with that."

xXxXxXx

Naruto and Hinata awoke back in his apartment and still facing each other on the couch, Hinata still in his lap, straddling him as they were before they entered his mind. Looking at the alarm clock in his room through the door, Naruto saw it was still before noon.

"Well, that was quick. Want to go get lunch?" Hinata nodded with a beautiful smile.

"Very much so." They exited his apartment and began their trek to Ichiraku Ramen. "We should start training tomorrow if I wake up early enough from the seal transfer and feel okay." Naruto nodded and watched his feet as he walked in thought.

"Yea. I'm still trying to get used to being a midget again." Hinata giggled and latched onto his arm.

"Well, your new diet will work on that and the competent exercise will fix that." Naruto sighed as he realized she was going to control what he ate again. She did it the last time around, too. It was just as horrible then.

"Yes, dear." Hinata giggled again, really enjoying herself.

xXxXxXx

**Omake:**

"I don't understand, Ino-chan," Naruto said, finally getting fed up with Ino's fangirl ramblings of the 'last Uchiha'. "You and all of the other girls in Sasuke's fan club are so dead-set on trying to get the teme to notice and go out with you, but you don't even step back to see exactly what you're getting in to." Ino, who'd been shocked out of her reverie suddenly turned livid.

"Naruto-baka! How can you say that! He's the smartest boy in the school, is the most handsome, is the lone survivor of the Uchiha massacre and," she blushed and giggled perversely, "he has to revive his entire clan!" She let out a squeal as she ran in place quickly, her arms pulled in tightly. Naruto only scoffed and rolled his eyes, gaining her attention again. He'd seen the last Uchiha in the showers before. He'd have a _lot_ of work cut out for him to revive anything.

"Trust me, you're not missing anything there," he snorted. "Though I sometimes wonder if _he_ is." Ino was simply outraged!

"Baka! You can't say such things about Sasuke-kun!" Naruto simply quirked an eyebrow at her.

"Oh? I tell you what. If Hinata-chan and I offer to keep watch over your body, why don't you take control over him and take him to 'use the restroom' and check. We won't tell anyone about it and you'll have the singular ability, of _all_ the girls in Konoha, to say that you've seen his 'Little Uchiha' up close and personal." Naruto watched as Ino's eyes widened to epic proportions and a delicate blush spread across her cheeks. How could she honestly never have thought of that! It was brilliant! It was genius! She would have that much over on Forehead-Girl!

"Y-you'll watch over my body," she asked quietly, "and Hinata too?" Naruto nodded as he motioned for Hinata to come over and explained things to her. Hinata looked at the girl as if she were about to do something that she shouldn't have to experience as she promised to make sure her body would remain safe. Biting her lower lip, Ino finally nodded and silently slid in between Naruto and Hinata and lined Sasuke up in her sights before launching her spirit at the dark-haired avenger who barely flinched as Ino oriented herself in his body. Quickly looking around to make sure she had control, Ino, now Sasuke, raised her hand to be excused to the restroom and quickly left.

"Naruto-kun," Hinata whispered, "should we really have let her find out like that? I mean, even if that wasn't wrong, it _is_ an invasion of privacy for Sasuke." Naruto smiled and shook his head.

"Yes, it may not exactly be the morally-correct thing to do, but it should keep her from chasing after the teme and allow her to focus on truly being a kunoichi, which may save her life later on down the road." Hinata seemed to think about it for only a moment before nodding.

"You're right, I suppose. I just wish-" Whatever she'd have wished was lost as a terrified scream tore through the Academy. There was some very loud thumping before Sasuke, with Ino in control, tore up to Iruka and grabbed the man by the collar of his shirt and jerked him down to eye level.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!" Sasuke asked the confused and terrified Chuunin teacher. "I THOUGHT ALL UCHIHA WERE SUPPOSED TO BE HUNG LIKE GODS! BUT THIS-!" Deciding that Iruka really needed to understand, Sasuke, still with Ino at the controls, flung down the pants and pointed at it accusingly.

"WHAT HAPPENED TO ALL THE STORIES!"

It was a dark day for Uchiha Sasuke, as he lost all of his fangirls and fanboys within Konohagakure and had no clue why he went into class one day, top of the food chain, only to come back the next with a status in the village that was nearly as bad as the village pariah's.

xXxXxXx

**A/N **- This is a time-travel fic, so please keep that in mind while taking in their personalities. Also, to keep it interesting, **only a few things from Canon will be maintained.** Wave and Genin Selection exams are all I plan to truly keep and I have strong plans to make the Chuunin Exams original so long as I can come up with something new and fresh.

Naruto and Hinata will EARN their power, but their knowledge is ALL that went back (which means jutsu knowledge.) They're personalities will be that of what they were before going back. This means 4 years of full out war. Timeline is that this happens about 4 years after Naruto's return from his training trip with Jiraiya. I'll explain the time between and the war and such as to how everything happened in future chapters as they relate.

Paladeus


	2. Reflections

**Title:** Reforging The Past

**Chapter2 –** Reflections

**Ship:** Naruto/Hina, Naru/Harem, Naru/Hina/Ino/FemHaku/FemKyuu, Anko/Kurenai

**Author:** Paladeus

**Key:** "Speech", **"Demonic Speech"**, _'Thought'_, _**'Demonic Thought'**_

xXxXxXx

**Author's Note** Just a quick note – This story is going to be updated as I get each chapter done. There won't really be much of a schedule. It's basically being done for fun and to see if I can actually write a harem since I'm not much of a believer in them.

**Recommended Story of the Chapter:** "Altered Destiny" by VenomLord

**xXx** – STORY – **xXx**

Naruto could feel a warm hand sliding up his thigh, his side, and then finally down his jaw before soft lips touched his own, bringing him fully into the realm of the waking. Blinking, he could see the smiling face of Hinata looking down at him from her place beside him in the bed.

"Hey, Hina," he mumbled over a yawn. "When d'you get here?"

"Just a few minutes ago. Come on," she said, ripping the blankets off of him, "time to get out of bed! We've got a seal to change!" As she pulled the blankets, she inadvertently made him roll over and off the bed to the floor with a grunt of pain. "Oops!"

"I'm so getting you back for that," he said from his place on the floor.

"Later, Naruto. For now, go ahead and take a shower to wake yourself up and then we'll take care of the seal. After that, we can talk about naughty little punishments," she finished with a giggle before going to the living room to move things to the side. Before she left the bedroom, she turned her head to face him. "Oh and Naruto? Hurry up. I don't think I'll be able to get out of these clothes alone." With a bright smile, she left a wide-eyed, gaping Naruto to fumble his way to the bathroom.

_'Damn fox sending us back when my damned hormones are kicking in!'_ He spent the next several minutes in an ice-code shower, being watched by the Byakugan user the entire time.

xXxXxXx

Naruto kept his hand as steady as possible as he drew a series of caricatures over Hinata's bare stomach and chest. Oh how he was wishing for another cold shower! The fact that Hinata herself was ticklish and holding in her laughter as best as possible, making her breathe deeply and shake in barely-controlled fits of giggles, making two very impressive objects jiggle, distracting him each time.

"**Keep your focus, Naruto! Once this is done, you can talk with her about going down _that_ route."** The Kyuubi was so high-strung with the near screw-ups from Naruto's distractions that could bring everything to ruin. All because he couldn't keep his damned eyes to himself!

Naruto inked several kanji and symbols into a circle just above her left breast and around her heart before making a series of directional control seals down to just above her belly button and crafted a seal exactly as Kyuubi told him. This particular one was a demonic containment seal that was especially used for such purposes as this; containing a portion of a high-volume chakra entity. The details of the seal itself were far more intricate than even his own Shiki Fuuin, but required far fewer symbols, since he had a pool of demonic characters that were more specific to his current needs.

"Almost done, Tenshi-chan." Hinata giggled quietly as he raised the brush from her belly, each stroke tickling her mercilessly.

"We'll have to do this again sometime, Naruto-kun." she giggled again, enjoying how Naruto's eyes seemed to gravitate towards her chest while her own looked at his erection, thanking the demon within him that seals had to be placed upon his own body as well. He gave a loopy smile until Kyuubi interrupted his staring, again.

"**Enough for now, grrr! Take that kunai and cut straight down the Shiki Fuuin and draw the final seal inside the circle over her belly in the blood. It doesn't have to be deep."** Naruto did as told, agreeing with Hinata that there wasn't much else that could be done otherwise than to trust the fox vixen. Once done, he pulled back and placed bloodied fingertips in the center of the seal he just drew in blood and the one over her heart and began to channel chakra.

As Kyuubi's chakra leaked out of the changing seal on his stomach, several containment seals drawn around them on the floor to preempt this very problem in case Naruto wasn't perfect on the seal activated and blocked the demonic chakra from escaping so no one would be able to sense the release of a massive amount of energy and contain it to be absorbed by one of the two within it's confines. Luckily, a web of chakra formed around the escaping chakra in the shape of a tube and directed the foxes chakra where it belonged.

For roughly twenty long minutes, their bodies stiffened, their backs arched and neither were able to move as Naruto watched a veritable stream of pure chakra poured into the seal over her stomach. He was shocked when her ears regressed inside of her head and furry ears grew over her head with her same hair color and her eyes gained slitted pupils. Her hands grew slightly and her fingernails lengthened and thickened. Her body rippled and he could see her body grow slightly and her muscles contracted until she had a series of muscles similar to his own and finally, four tails grew from under her, their color the same as her hair. Though unable to see himself, he could feel similar changes to himself.

After feeling the last of the chakra flow between the two of them stop, both of them slumped to the ground, Naruto laying beside Hinata with an arm draped over her. His body twitched violently several times before he was able to gain control over his body again. Once he did, he slowly raised himself up and checked Hinata, seeing she was unconscious.

"Oh sweet Kami that hurt..." His attention was drawn to Hinata as her foxy features began to recede and made her look normal again, aside from the height change and muscle mass increase. "The hell? Kyuubi, what's going on!"

"**I told you,"** she said quietly and slowly, obviously worn out for some reason, **"you're hanyou and will be able to hide your features. That means you have your human forms and your half demon forms and then, finally, full demon forms since I'm with you both. You will be able to change between them. She changed back to her human form because she unconsciously knows that form better."**

"So, she's okay?" He asked worriedly.

"**Yes, quite. She's just going through the full merger right now. Her mind and the mind of a demon being reformed into one where she will accept parts of her mind for what she wants to be more like and get rid of the parts that she doesn't want."** Naruto picked up Hinata from the floor and carried her to his bedroom and laid her on the bed, taking the spot next to her and covering them both up.

"What about me? Why am I not unconscious and going through those changes? And I thought she was already going through those mental changes." Kyuubi let out a yawn before answering, barely able to remain awake from being split between the two of them.

"**It was, but that was more of a small change for where she wanted it, so to speak."**

"You mean she _wanted_ to tease me more and let me see her naked and such?" Kyuubi chuckled.

"**Most definitely. She-"**

"But ... I thought she wanted to wait!" Naruto was completely confused. They had talked about doing things together and she had wanted to wait until they got married to do anything naughty. He had suddenly realized that she liked him and things progressed rather quickly from that point and he knew she didn't want to rush into anything to be sure she wasn't a fling on the side and he respected that. Naruto knew she didn't believe that he was that type of guy, but insecurities abound in women who were already very insecure.

"**Yes, she wanted to wait, but she wanted you for so long that it was the one thing she wanted to change about herself at the time. You would have to speak with her for anything more specific. And you are not unconscious because you are far more used to the demonic spirit and the changes will be very minor since the mental aspects happened with us throughout your life."** Naruto hugged Hinata closer to him when she let out a small whimper and shivered, kissing her bare shoulder and tightening the blankets around them.

"Thank you, Kyuubi. You sound tired also, so go ahead and take a nap if you want. I'll keep an eye on her." Both Naruto and Kyuubi yawned and began to drift off.

"**Thank you, Master."** Neither noticed her tired response as they both fell asleep.

xXxXxXx

"Are you serious!" Sakura and Ino were currently attempting to track Sasuke on his jog. They'd lost him almost as soon as they first found him when they noticed each other, but now, they were sitting in a tree, waiting for him to come back and Ino was dishing out her new information.

"Completely! She had Naruto wrapped around her pinky!" Sakura scoffed and took a quick look for Sasuke.

"I still don't believe he has a better body than Sasuke-kun." Ino smiled and looked in the opposite direction than Sakura.

"Believe it, Sakura. I helped them pick out a new wardrobe and they had him down to his boxers and he is _way_ more developed than Sasuke-kun! Not only that, but Hinata gave me a wicked idea," she said with a smile and conspiratorial tone of voice, instantly catching Sakura's attention.

"Oh? Like what?" Both turned to face each other, missing as Sasuke walked into his house after two laps around the training ground.

"She mentioned how her Byakugan lets her see all around and _through_ other things, such as clothes," she smiled brightly as she saw Sakura's eyes widened and a blush painted her cheeks.

"You mean, she's seen Sasuke-kun's ... " She trailed off, embarrassed to even say it.

"She says she did, but she said it was smaller than my index finger." Sakura's face turned red in a righteous fury as she realized what Ino was saying.

"THAT LITTLE BINT! WHAT MAKES HER THINK WE'LL BELIEVE-"

"Sakura! I asked the same thing and she actually explained it in a way that I would actually believe. She doesn't care for Sasuke-kun in any way and has no competition for Naruto, so she has no reason to lie and-"

"But she said he's small and-"

"Yes," she interrupted the pink-haired girl, "she did. But she also mentioned a way for me to prove it without getting caught, and if you help, we can _both_ see it." Sakura's wrath was warring with her own inner pervert and her inner pervert was winning.

"Like what?" Ino blushed and looked around quickly.

"Well ... My family's techniques allow us to take control over other people without them knowing what happens while we're in control. I figured that, if you distract him with something or other, I can take him over and we can get a few pictures for ourselves and no one ever has to know." Both sat in silence for a few minutes, thinking the whole thing through until Sakura's inner pervert reared it's ugly head again.

"So ... how big did she say Naruto was in comparison and can we get blackmail on him by doing the same thing?" Ino blushed furiously.

"She said Naruto was twice as big as any other boys in our class and, based on the way his boxers were filled out, I'm willing to believe her," she ignored Sakura's wide-eyed and shocked expression. "And Naruto bought me a dress for helping him out, so I won't blackmail him. He's actually a pretty decent guy, really."

xXxXxXx

Naruto was on the edge of consciousness with an incredible feeling of soft, fluttery touches over his body, going down his chest and back up to his neck, before something firm and wet stroked his collarbone and then nibbled. Opening his eyes, he smiled as he saw the beaming face of Hinata smiling down at him.

"Wakey, wakey, Naruto-kun," she purred into his ear.

"Hinata-chan? What are you doing?" While Naruto was enjoying what was happening, he knew Hinata may not be in her right mind at the moment. His fears eased when she laid down next to him, pressing the length of her body up against his.

"I just thought it would be a pleasant way to wake up, that's all Naruto-kun," she said, tracing patterns over his chest. "I feel wonderful! My chakra capacity seems to be about three times was it was before the transfer and just over a quarter of what I had before we came back." She got up excitedly and spun around, showing him her nude body, not realizing the reaction it was causing to his body.

"My strength seems to be higher and I've got a lot more definition, too." She turned and smiled at him before her eyes fell from his gaping face to the large erection under the covers. She giggled as she realized what she was doing and got back under the covers and hugged him.

"So you don't feel any residual pain or anything," he asked, trying to get the image of her out of his mind. She was right. There was most certainly more definition.

"Nope," she chirruped brightly. "I feel incredible. My muscles feel a little tight like I haven't used them in a little while, but no pain." He nodded and hugged her tightly back to him.

"My reserves went up too, but I can't tell how much. It wasn't much compared to what I had before we came back, but if Kyuubi was right, my control should still be far better." Hinata let her body go limp against him with her face in the crook of his neck, breathing in his scent.

"We should start working on our taijutsu and other skills to see what we're currently capable of. We need to check out techniques, speed and accuracy." Naruto nodded gently so as not to hit her with his chin.

"We should probably take it easy for a day or two to make sure nothing bad happens because of this." Hinata shook her head.

"If anything is going to happen, it will happen when I exert myself, so we'll just start slow and work our way up." Naruto paused, thinking it over, before agreeing.

"Alright, slow it is then. But if I see something that doesn't look right, I'm taking you straight to the hospital. What time is it, anyway?"

"I can agree with that. Just don't get worried for nothing, and its a few minutes after nine, so we can get a little bit of training in before lunch." She got out of bed and got dressed, enjoying watching Naruto squirm as he was forced to acknowledge his frustration. He tried to put his own clothes on to find that he couldn't do so while hard and wound up waiting nearly twenty minutes for it to go away. From there, they left to check their current abilities and then train in earnest.

xXxXxXx

Naruto woke up very early the next day, the first day of his return to the Academy, with a bright smile on his face. He and Hinata had spent the whole previous day purely working on taijutsu since they had to worry anyone noticing a sudden drop in the ability they were supposed to have.

Hinata had found it easy to get back into her Jyuuken abilities. But like Naruto, she kept over-estimating her reach and tried to strike at points that were further than she had available reach for. However, with an available and quick-healing practice dummy called 'Naruto', she was easily able to get the hang of the change. With the change due to the seal alteration where she gained several inches, it wasn't quite as bad as it could have been.

Naruto, sadly, wasn't quite as capable. In his defense, he reasoned that Hinata held status as a well-versed Jyuuken user who couldn't suddenly have worse skills while his own taijutsu at the time was nothing more than street brawling, which he could easily do now. Especially when he was used to taking hits.

It was for that very reason, however, that Naruto made so sure to wake up at five in the morning. He didn't both with a shower since his plans would make it pointless and, instead, put on his old orange clothes and ran out to training ground four, where he knew his targets would be.

Several minutes later, he walked into a clearing where two men were going through some rather extreme physical exercises. Naruto stood off to the side, but within Maito Gai's range of vision, waiting for him to invite him over. He didn't doubt the man's ability to notice him and was rewarded after a minute of waiting with Gai's hand motioning him forward.

"Ah! To what does the great Maito Gai owe the pleasure of your visit this fine morning!" Lee, seeing the newcomer hopped up and stood beside his sensei with a curious expression on his face.

"I am Uzumaki Naruto, student at the Academy," he began, slipping into debriefing mode easily and unconsciously, his expression and tone serious. "You are Maito Gai, number one taijutsu specialist with no other equal in Konoha aside from your 'eternal rival' Hatake Kakashi when he uses his implanted Sharingan eye and your student, Rock Lee, Genin of one year under your command in Team Nine. No chakra ability that has been a hindrance only to those who do not know him as he's increased his own taijutsu form and ability to become a respectable Genin of Konohagakure that is usually underestimated, to his opponents' folly." Both Gai and Lee were shocked at the stranger's knowledge and curious where it was going. Then his expression turned into his usual foxy smile, throwing both for a loop.

"And I'd like to ask for training in taijutsu in exchange for becoming a sparring partner with Lee." Gai had been very curious, even becoming wary, of the boy in front of him. He knew who the boy was, even without his odd introduction. He had only ever heard bad things about the boy from those who already hated him and only good things from those who didn't. While he doubted anyone's ability to keep up with his Lee, this would be the one boy who stood the best chance considering his stamina and history outrunning pranked ANBU and Jounin.

"Lee! We have found another who wishes to fan his flames of youth!"

"Yosh! We shall teach him newfound limits!" Naruto ignored the icy shiver at the base of his spine and waved a hand to catch their attention.

"So, is this a yes?" Gai looked at Naruto and smiled in a way _very_ different than his nice guy pose. This smile was a sadistic, evil thing that promised pain to come.

"Let's get you set up with some weights."

xXxXxXx

Hinata put the oniguri and yakitori for both herself and Naruto into her bento box, already filled with some tea and dango and then walked quickly to the front door of the complex to meet up with Naruto and go to the Academy, but was interrupted as she was coming out of the kitchen by her father.

"Hinata. I would like to speak with you in my study," he said, turning and walking away expecting her to follow.

"Yes father." With a grimace, Hinata did so, knowing she couldn't anger him. He _was _her Clan head, after all. They walked in silence until they were in his study and sitting in front of each other.

"Hinata. We received reports from Branch members and from Monichi's who we use exclusively for our outfitting needs that you were seen in the company of Uzumaki Naruto and were behaving in a manner that was rather uncouth for a Hyuuga, and out of character for yourself. I would like you to explain." Hinata nodded.

"Are we speaking as father and daughter, or Clan Head and Hyuuga?" Hiashi's eyes widened when Hinata asked such a ridiculous question. She hadn't even stuttered and was looking him in the eye!

"I'm afraid I don't understand. I am both of those things."

"Yes, but there are two ways to view yourself as Clan Head. This is going to tell me which you are more worried about. Your family or your clan."

"I still do not understand, Hinata. Our family _is_ our clan. Why are you playing games?" Hinata sighed and shook her head slightly, making Hiashi feel she was ... disappointed?

"If you do what is best for the family, you allow the clan to prosper for themselves. If you do what is best for the clan, it is our reputation and public view you care about. I am asking, Father, if you are questioning me about these events because you are worried about me being with Naruto-kun or if you are worried what the public will think," she said forcefully, allowing a moment of silence for it to sink in before continuing. "Are we speaking as father and daughter, or are we speaking as Clan Head and Hyuuga?" Hiashi was quiet for a moment as he realized what she was asking. Was he worried about her safety or the public's opinion of the Hyuuga? He had a strong feeling that his answer would also either open or close new paths with his eldest daughter depending on what it was. So he decided to take a chance.

"Father and daughter." Hinata simply stared at him for a few moments, causing Hiashi to become nervous though he didn't show it, and finally nodded.

"Alright!" She smiled brightly at him, causing the knot in his stomach to loosen as he realized he probably answered correctly. "I met up with Naruto-kun and Yamanaka Ino on Saturday and decided I was not going to let him keep those horrid orange jumpsuits, so I took him to get new clothes and equipment since no one would sell him quality things for normal prices due to his tenant and-"

"What do you know about that?" He interrupted with a furious expression. "Who told you?" Hinata simply waved off his concern.

"Naruto-kun told me. He knew he could trust me. He wanted me to know what being close to him would mean if it was found out we've been spending time together and why prices seemed to be so high for the most horrible equipment and why he's not allowed in most restaurants aside from Ichiraku Ramen." Hiashi was confused and appalled at the idea that the boy would be so careless with information about the Kyuubi, or even that he _knew_. However, there was something far more sinister hinted at in that explanation. Something that scared him to the core.

"What do you mean by 'spending time together', exactly?" Hinata's face erupted into an expression of confusion and replied in an overly innocent tone.

"Well, in seven months, you're going to be a grandfather," she said as she watched him seem to sway and fall forward onto his desk. Giggling, she poked him with her finger. "Perhaps that was cruel, but it was worth it." She spent the next several minutes trying to wake him up before finally getting frustrated and performing a minor suiton jutsu to mist his face and hold it there, causing him to splutter and finally awaken.

"YOU WHAT!" Hinata giggled again and waved off his expression.

"I was joking," she said between giggling. "We've been spending time together training. He can reopen his tenketsu, even if all of them are closed, and heals quickly. I taught him chakra control and he helped me with my confidence and sparred with me without insulting me at every turn. In that environment, I've learned much."

"Exactly what have you learned," he asked, still very worried thanks to her earlier comment. While he was surprised that the boy could reopen his tenketsu, he assumed she meant only a single one or two

"Much," she said simply. "I would be willing to show you after Genin placements. That is when we agreed to stop holding back and show what we are truly capable of. He's been doing that with his intelligence and abilities for years because people have hated him for Fuzzy."

"Why would he do that?" Hiashi could understand fooling everyone, but that he could have done it for so long and so well was almost frightening to think about. And if the boy had any dark thoughts about what to do with his abilities, they could all be in trouble.

"Would you want people to beat you constantly for doing well or even average simply because of who you are?" Hinata shook her head as if saying no for him. "It was self preservation." Hiashi nodded, understanding where that sentiment was coming from. He'd long known about the animosity that the Uzumaki boy had gone through, but there wasn't anything he could do about it. He had to hold his clan over a single boy and it was a needless hardship to bring into the family if they tried.

"How long have you been working with Uzumaki-san?" Hinata tried to think up a viable time frame, but realized she couldn't think of anything valid enough that Naruto could agree with if questioned separately.

"I'm not really sure. We've been working together for a while."

"And that is why you no longer stutter in my presence?" Hinata nodded.

"Pretty much." Hiashi was quiet a few moments while he took that in. If nothing else, the Uzumaki seemed to have brought out the heir within his eldest daughter.

"Very well. You may go," he said, knowing he'd have to think things over and determine where he, and by position, the Hyuuga clan, stood on the issue.

Hinata simply bowed her head slightly and left swiftly. She now had a few minutes more than needed to get to the Academy, but she'd have to move quickly to make it in time regardless. She ran over the rooftops for extra speed and arrived with ten minutes to spare, faster than she expected. She sat down in her usual seat in the back of the class and watched the students as they milled about until a worn out and freshly showered Naruto in his new clothes almost fell into the seat beside her and laid his head on the table.

"Morning, Tenshi-chan," he mumbled. Hinata frowned and noticed his muscles were twitching slightly, showing major recent use.

"Good morning, Naruto-kun. Are you alright?"

"Yea. I decided to try and get my body back up to snuff and met up with Gai-sensei and Lee," he groaned lightly for added effect. "Slave drivers, the both of 'em! They gave me fifty pounds for each leg and thirty for both arms and then had me go through their crazy-ass regimen." Hinata giggled as he pretended to stare off into the distance and then grabbed his arm and put it around her waist, enjoying how the weight around his wrist caused his arm to squeeze her lightly, and then snuggled into his shoulder.

"You knew very well what their training was like, Naruto-kun. You have no one to blame but yourself," she said primly.

"Yea, but did he have to give me both sets of weights that Neji and Tenten refused to wear? I hurt all over," he lightly complained, causing Hinata to smile even brighter.

"Maybe later I'll kiss your owies and make them all better," she suggested, getting a gulp from the wide-eyed blonde. He coughed, to clear his throat before speaking.

"Er ... remind me to make sure to piss off Sakura so she'll hurt a fun area first." With a laugh, Hinata smacked him hard on the shoulder, causing an over-exaggerated groan from Naruto. "Can't blame a guy for trying." Ignoring him, Hinata settled back into his side and sighed in contentment.

"Were you able to get a decent workout, at least?" Naruto nodded even though she couldn't see it as the first bell rang to let the students know classes were about to start.

"Yea. Gai-sensei is weird as all hell, but he's a damned genius at his stuff. He noticed the corrections I kept trying to do were too much for my body size. He was really impressed, though he could tell I don't have the forms memorized with my body yet." Hinata gave an acknowledging sound in her throat and they watched as the last of the students came rushing in.

"Oi! Get your hands off of Hinata!" Naruto and Hinata both turned to the voice behind them to see Inuzuka Kiba and his puppy Akamaru on top of his head looking at Naruto with fury written across his face before it turned to shock as he noticed Naruto's hair and whiskered face.

"Got a problem, Dog Boy," Naruto asked, annoyed with the Inuzuka already. Unnoticed by Naruto or Kiba, several of the students began paying attention.

"Naruto? What the hell are you doing!" Naruto frowned in confusion.

"Sitting here?" Kiba's face morphed into fury again as he growled at Naruto, Akamaru yapping to show support for his master.

"I mean with your arm around Hinata!" He growled out. Naruto turned to Hinata and winked before looking back at Kiba.

"Well, I figured I'd keep my arm around her so she was in my arms and then I'd take her back to my place and ravish her until she screamed my name over and over again." The entire class, sans Naruto and Hinata, simply stared in open-mouthed shock until Hinata leaned in and kissed his cheek.

"Promises, promises, Naruto-kun." Both were able to hold their laughter in for only a few seconds before both burst into loud laughter. Several students were looking at each other as if asking each other what they knew while a few others spluttered at the usually shy Hyuuga's actions.

"He's kidding, Kiba," she said to placate the red-faced boy. "I put his arm around me because this is more comfortable. The joke was just a plus." Hinata placed Naruto's arm back around her as the bell rang and Iruka walked into class.

"Alright you guys! Sit down! We're taking roll and then we'll be working on review for three weeks, leaving the final one for the final graduation exam. Welcome to Genin Hell!" Iruka smiled as he saw several of the Genin hopefuls gulp in fear. This one speech made the rest of the year worth it.

xXxXxXx

Three and a half weeks later, Naruto was laying on the ground, panting heavily as he finished up another grueling training session with Gai and Lee. Tiredly, he rolled his head to the side and looked at Lee who was bouncing lightly on his feet and throwing punches into the air.

_'Damn that bastard! How the hell he can beat me in stamina, I don't even _want_ to know,'_ he thought, glaring at the green-clad youth.

"You have done very well today, Naruto! Your flames of youth truly burn brightly within you!" Gai struck a nice-guy pose and allowed his teeth to ping for what had to be the fiftieth time that day. "You can leave now and that should leave you with an hour to make it to your classes today." Naruto slowly got up and nodded to the large Jounin in front of him.

"Thank you, Gai-sensei."

"You've done very well and advanced very quickly with your forms. I was surprised to hear you were among the lower tier of taijutsu users in your class, but have no doubt of your other abilities! Your flames of youth shall not extinguish so prematurely!" Naruto chuckled and decided to hint to the Jounin that there was method to his madness. He just couldn't bear the man thinking so little of him, even if he _was_ trying to sugarcoat his disappointment. Besides, tonight was _the_ event he'd been waiting for.

"I believe you will understand tonight or tomorrow, Gai-sensei. I would not do so poorly after receiving such superb instruction." Naruto nearly screamed as Lee seemed to come out of nowhere and stood in front of him in a strange pose with fire in his eyes.

"YOSH! GAI-SENSEI'S TEACHING IS GREATER THAN ANY OTHER'S!"

"LEE"

"GAI-SENSEI!" Before the two even got into a full scale man-hug, Naruto had taken off like a bat out of hell. They were good guys, they were talented guys ... and they were creepy as all hell.

Naruto rushed back to his apartment to get a shower and change from his orange clothes into the ones Hinata and Ino had picked out for him. Hinata enjoyed them, and rather _didn't_ enjoy the orange jumpsuit, so he did what any sane man would do; obey his girlfriend and stay as far away from her bad side as you can!

He showered quickly and exited the bathroom with the towel around his head when he heard a familiar giggle come from his living room. Looking at the source, he found Hinata with her Byakugan still active and looking directly at him with a blush and smile on her face.

"See something you like, Hinata-chan," he asked, not even bothering to cover himself up as he walked to his bedroom to get dressed. They had teased each other mercilessly during their time back, but didn't normally get naked in front of each other since it could lead to more than they wanted to do quite yet. Naruto had only found out a few days previously that Hinata seemed to try and make it to his apartment in time to peek on him every day. After getting dressed, he walked over to where she was sitting on the couch, politely ignoring the blush and remnants of her bloody nose, and picked her up and sat her in his lap after sitting.

"So, my Ero-Tenshi," he said with a grin, getting a smack on the shoulder, "what do you think?" They have had this conversation several times in the past weeks. It was a running discussion over what to change and what not to. Until this particular night, they tried to make everything happen as it had previously aside from simple cosmetic changes, such as Naruto's outfit and diet and the two of them training together.

"Well, things are the same so far. I think that your plan with the scroll is a good one. We just have to make the exchange quickly." Naruto nodded.

"Okay. So we go with the plan and I'll make the old man put us on the same team."

"With Kurenai-sensei," Hinata amended. "She would be the best sensei for our needs."

"Alright, Tenshi-chan," Naruto said before nibbling on Hinata's neck and sliding his hand very lightly over her stomach and up the front of her jacket, making her take a deep breath as she tilted her head back as he kissed the front of her neck and down slightly. She let out a moan as he cupped her breast and kissed her solidly on the mouth, licking her lips gently before he released her and slid himself out from under her with a grin.

"We should head to the Academy now." Hinata glared at the smiling blonde in front of her, her face still flushed from the contact.

"You're dead, Uzumaki!" Laughing, he took off with Hinata right on his heels.

xXxXxXx

"Alright Naruto. You have to make three viable and battle-ready bunshin in order to become a Genin. You may proceed," Iruka, Naruto's latest sensei in the Academy said. Naruto nodded and performed the seals necessary, putting as much chakra as he could into the jutsu.

"Bunshin no jutsu!" Naruto was obscured by a sudden burst of smoke that cleared rapidly, showing three clones that looked to have already died. Naruto's shoulders slumped as Iruka shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Naruto. But you fail." Mizuki, who was sitting right next to Iruka smiled and turned to Iruka.

"Couldn't we possibly pass him just this once? I mean, it's his last chance to become a Genin and he _did_ make three bunshin." Iruka shook his head and pointed at the three dead Naruto's on the ground as they poofed away into a cloud of smoke.

"Those wouldn't fool even the most rookie of enemy ninja. I cannot, in good conscience, send him out just to die. I'm sorry, Naruto. But you fail." Naruto turned and fled from the room, pausing only to glance at Hinata as he ran to show things were happening as expected. Just as before, Naruto sat silently on a swing in the shade of a large tree in the yard of the Academy. It had been one of his favourite places to sit and think or just simply be alone on the Academy grounds. Right now, however, he sat there, watching as all of the students who'd taken the exam and passed. Every single one of them except for him. The voices were just as he remembered.

"That's my boy! Tonight, Mom's making your favourite for dinner! We're both really proud of you!"

"Look, Mom! I'm going to be as strong as Dad now!"

"You've made your family proud today, Son. We're going to take you and your sister out to whatever restaurant you want. Tonight is all about you."

He listened as several families joined in the happiness of his peers' achievements. He couldn't help but to remember his first time around, thinking about his own parents, and the usual questions of where they were, if they were even alive, if they had left him because of Kyuubi or if he'd simply been lost from them somehow. He now knew what had happened to them, but the first time through this life, he was lost.

He could also hear the other voices. The ones who talked about him. The voices that he couldn't block with his usual mask as he sat there, completely enveloped in sorrow. He merely kept his eyes closed, letting the words wash over him and waiting for Mizuki to show up.

"Look, over there. Its _him_."

"They say he's the only one who didn't pass."

"Yea, its a good thing, too. They should never have let him join the Academy, that dem-"

"Shh! Its forbidden to talk about!"

He was about to get up and leave to find Mizuki on his own when he heard soft footsteps coming up beside him. Naruto turned to look and saw Mizuki standing there, but failed to see the lavender-eyed girl who stood watching him from a distance, even though he knew she was there.

"You know, Naruto, Iruka didn't fail you because he hates you. He did it because he cares about you."

"W-what do you mean, Mizuki-sensei?" Naruto almost wanted to kill the traitor there and then but knew it would be better to do it later.

"Iruka was a lot like you as a child. He acted up in class, and didn't do very well because he wanted attention. He, too, was an orphan because the Kyuubi killed his family when it attacked. He sees a lot of himself in you, and he doesn't want to give you something that you didn't earn. He doesn't want you to get hurt by going on missions and not being up to the challenge of going against an enemy and dieing."

"It doesn't matter anymore," Naruto said, sounding dejected still, "I still failed the test. I have no choice now but to go to _normal_ school." The disgusted face Naruto made as he sat the last two words made Mizuki truly laugh. Naruto was mentally giving himself an award for his acting.

_'This is too easy!'_ Mizuki thought.

"Well, what if there was a second way. Would you be willing to do your best to take a secondary exam?" The widening of Naruto's eyes was all Mizuki needed for his confirmation. He motioned Naruto to follow him and they both left to a more secluded area to talk, unknowingly to Mizuki, Naruto's silent watcher followed. Once they arrived in the training area nearest to the school, Mizuki looked around and began talking again.

"Alright, Naruto. Here is the deal. There is a program that was designed for students more like the Uchiha and other students who are more like you; for one reason or another, they were unable to pass the _normal_ Genin Selection Exams... But," he stressed the word 'but' to make sure he had Naruto's attention with it, "you have a sponsor who believes in you."

"What?"

"You see, Naruto, the job of a ninja is to complete their mission, using whatever skills are available to them. In your case, and those like it where a student may not show his ability on paper or in a classroom setting, we have a test where you are given a fake mission, where everything is set up, and you are judged based on your performance. You must have a teacher who sponsors you, who gets permission from the Hokage, which I have already done, if you will agree to it, and your sponsor gives you a black-ops mission set up by the Hokage."

"I'll do it!" Naruto was quivering in excitement as Mizuki laughed whole-heartedly. Things were going exactly the same!

"Alright, Naruto. If you're that sure and don't want to think it over, these are the requirements: Object one; you are to tell absolutely no one of your mission. That is why it is considered a black-ops. Should you be captured, it will be _exactly_ the same as though you were a foreign shinobi. You will be questioned about who sent you and what your mission was and what you know about your own village and such."

"Object two; you are to be seen by no one, and anyone you are found by must be incapacitated by any means necessary. You are only a Genin hopeful, going against anyone between you and your mission, so they can defend themselves and will play exactly the same as if this were real. They will attack you and they will question your presence."

"Object three; you are to be judged on all abilities used, therefore, stealth, speed, cunning and such, all of that will be evaluated, so work accordingly."

"Now, your mission is to break into the Hokage's office and steal a replica of the Forbidden Scroll," he noticed Naruto's eyes widen and decided to head off any questions, "it won't be the original, Naruto. It will only have whatever techniques Hokage-sama feels you are allowed to learn. He creates the scroll based on who is taking the exam, but you will not be allowed to keep it. That brings us to the second portion of the exam."

"Alright. I'm listening." Naruto was smiling like a loon and loving every minute of this.

"Good, Naruto. Now, the second part, is to learn as much from the scroll as you can and then show me what you've learned. After that, we do the evaluation and I will take the scroll back to Hokage-sama, as you are not permitted to allow any harm to come to the scroll whatsoever. Got everything?" When Naruto confirmed that he did, and summarized the actual mission, Mizuki smiled at him and then explained, in great detail, what the scroll looked like and where to find it before sending Naruto on his way.

xXxXxXx

Naruto silently slipped through the ventilation ducts of the Hokage's office. Years of being chased by villagers and outrunning the ANBU of Konoha and several years of war had given him an astounding stealth ability and he made sure to incorporate ever single iota of his skill in avoiding the guards within the building and make his way through. His current level of chakra control was higher than it would have been, which included masking his chakra from the guards who were taught to detect such things, so things were even easier than his first time around.

Dropping silently to the floor, Naruto went to the bookshelf along the inside wall and opened the hidden wall where the scroll was held. He checked for any traps and, not finding any, grabbed the scroll before closing the hidden wall. He was about to jump back into the air duct when he detected the Third Hokage at the door. His own ability to disguise his chakra signature coming naturally kept it at a low enough level that he was too close before Naruto noticed it to hide.

"Naruto? What are you doing with the Forbidden Scroll?" The Sandaime Hokage was coming back to get his pipe and was quite shocked to seat Naruto with the Forbidden Scroll of all of Konoha's most secret techniques strapped to Naruto's back. The only reasons he could come up with for taking it all ended badly, so he hoped it was something other than Naruto planning to turn missing nin.

"Heh, sorry you caught me, Old Man! I ain't gonna lose my final chance! This is one test I know I can win! Oiroke no jutsu!" Naruto disappeared to the Hokage's eyes, and when the smoke disappeared, an incredibly beautiful blonde woman with her long hair in pigtails to either side showed up. The truly ... magnificent ... aspect, however, was that she was completely and utterly nude. The older man's eyes couldn't miss the fact that her figure was perfect, or that the truly tantalizing bits were covered in wisps of smoke that seemed to caress 'her' skin. He stood there, wide-eyed in shock as the beautiful 'woman' in front of him turned her head down and looked at him through her eyelashes to speak in a very quiet and hesitant voice.

"H-Hokage-sama? Please... touch me..." The nude girl watched, highly amused, as the great Hokage of Konoha, supposedly the most powerful shinobi in the village, flew back into the wall from a massive nosebleed so strong, it knocked him out.

Naruto poofed back into his true form with a grin as he jumped into the ventilation system again, planning on making up for lost time and for having gotten caught. "I swear, all of the adults in this village are perverts! Not that I can blame them. Ero-sensei's books are pretty great!" He quickly made his way to where Hinata was hiding in wait and gave her the scroll.

"You want me to copy everything, correct?" Hinata asked.

"Yup! You'll have about three hours for the old man to wake up and before I kick Mizuki's ass, so you'll need to work quick if there are as many as this thing seems to hold." He handed her the scroll and then used a stick and cast a genjutsu on it to turn it into the Forbidden Scroll for him to carry.

"Can do," she said, leaning in to give him a kiss. "Just try to keep things similar." He gave her a wide grin.

"But of course!" He took off to a clearing in training ground one that held a small shack since that was where he'd been before while Hinata went to the Hyuuga grounds so she wouldn't be found while copying the scroll with four Kage Bunshin, each to take a quarter of the scroll and copy it on the blank ones Naruto had created for her.

xXxXxXx

Iruka was laying in bed, wondering if he should have passed Naruto like Mizuki had suggested. It really wasn't that he didn't want Naruto to succeed, as it was quite the opposite, but he couldn't, in good conscience, send him out when he felt it would be practically like sending him out to his death. If Naruto wasn't able to perform such a simple jutsu, how could he hope to pull off the stronger ones? There was a natural order to things where you work your way up from weak to strong.

Iruka couldn't help but see the similarities between himself and Naruto. The way they put on a show of sorts to those who looked at them, but didn't truly see them, being the class clown just to have people laugh with him rather than at him and both being orphans. He was perhaps the only teacher at the Academy that understood him in any way and didn't hate him for what he carried and he couldn't help but wonder if he couldn't have possibly tried to help him out in some other way. Maybe spend more time with him on his chakra control exercises or perhaps work on that specific jutsu one day after class until he could do it in his sleep. Iruka would have continued on his train of thought if a knocking hadn't sounded at his door. Getting up to answer it, he was surprised at who he saw.

"Mizuki? What are you-"

"Naruto's stolen the Forbidden Scroll! Hokage-sama wants all Chuunin and above at the tower!" With that, Mizuki took off, making sure Iruka was right behind him.

_'Naruto, what have you done?'_ Iruka put on a burst of speed and pulled ahead of Mizuki while Mizuki was thinking something else.

_'Damnit! I thought everything through so much! How could I forget to tell him to meet me in a set place! If it weren't for that, I could have already found the little brat and been out of here!'_ He was well aware that his only real choice at this point was to follow Iruka as he had a knack for being able to find Naruto when he didn't want to be found.

xXxXxXx

"Understand! I do not want Naruto harmed! I need to know exactly what is going on and how he knew where the scroll was at! Move out!" Sarutobi's robes billowed harshly behind him as the large group of ninja in front of him jumped out of formation, searching for the boy. He called all of them as they were the ones who, mostly, didn't seem to hold any form of grudge against the boy. As he was walking back to his office, he couldn't help but think of the technique Naruto had used against him, a slight blush adorning his cheeks.

_'Such a fearsome technique to be wielded by one so young... Perhaps I should consider having it placed within the scroll, assuming we get it back. Oh Naruto, why did you take it?'_ The Sandaime finally reached his office and sat in his large chair. He pulled out a crystal ball he frequently used to check up on things in his village. He used it now, to find Naruto. He had let Naruto get a decent head start due to needing to call out the ninja and having no clue how long he had been out, though he suspected only a few minutes. It truly was a terrifying technique.

xXxXxXx

"Naruto! What the hell do you think you're doing!" Naruto was happy to finally see Iruka show up. He'd left the false scroll open just enough to show the steps to the Kage Bunshin technique and pretended to practice the night away, knowing that the Hokage had watched in his crystal ball.

"Iruka-sensei! I found you!"

"No, you idiot! I found you! What did you think you were doing stealing the Forbidden Scroll?" Iruka jumped onto the ground to stand near Naruto who simply burst into a large smile.

"I can do one of the techniques off of the scroll! Does that mean I pass now?"

"What?" Taking a moment to step back, Iruka looked at the clearing and at Naruto, who looked to be nearly exhausted with how he was holding himself slightly hunched over. He was covered in dirt and sweat and the whole clearing absolutely reeked of Naruto's chakra and the location wasn't very far form the Hokage tower. If he had planned on meeting some enemy shinobi or doing something more drastic like trying to learn his own techniques for having lost his chance for becoming a Genin, Naruto knew of locations far more secure where he could practice and have far less of a chance of someone finding him.

"Well, aren't you here for the sponsored Genin test where I was given a pretend mission?" Naruto's memory of this event was forever etched into his memory and he easily flew through the dialog with Iruka.

"Naruto, there isn't another Genin test. Tell me what-"

"Ah, so it seems you found him at last!" Naruto and Iruka turned to the branches in the trees above them at the same time as the voice of Mizuki spoke.

"Mizuki! So you're the one behind this!"

"That's right, Iruka," Mizuki said with a sinister smile. "Naruto! Give me the scroll!"

"No, Naruto! Don't do it! Mizuki is just using you to get the Forbidden Scroll! Take it and run, I'll keep him busy!" Iruka was inconspicuously trying to move between Mizuki and Naruto, using his sudden head movements and yelling as decoy to his whole body shifting as he moved.

"Naruto! Would you like to know why so many people hate and despise you? Would you like to hear about the secret that only _you _are not allowed to know about?" Naruto adopted a look of confusion and looked between Iruka and Mizuki.

"What are you talking about?"

"Mizuki, don't!" Iruka couldn't figure out a way to get to Mizuki without leaving Naruto wide open for an attack. He hadn't thought before leaving his apartment, leaving him without shuriken or kunai.

"Twelve years ago, the demon Kyuubi attacked Konoha! But it wasn't killed off like your history books tell you!" A malicious smile grew over Mizuki's face as Iruka attempted to interrupt him.

"Don't listen to him, Naruto!"

"Instead, the Yondaime sealed the Kyuubi away into a baby!" He paused for dramatic effect before continuing. He always did have a flair for the theatrics. "You are the Kyuubi no Kitsune! That is why everyone in Konoha hates you, Naruto! You are the one who killed off entire families!"

Remembering that he'd fallen on his butt the last time around, which caused Iruka to jump into a fuuma shuriken to save his life, Naruto decided instead to stay standing, but put a look of shock on his face.

"Even Iruka hates you, Naruto! You killed his parents!" Mizuki struck what seemed to be a heroic pose. "And now, Demon, I am going to finish you off for good!" With the last word, Mizuki grabbed the windmill shuriken from his back and launched it at Naruto, who was still looking towards Iruka. As he heard Mizuki yell out while throwing the shuriken, he turned towards him, ready to block the shuriken if Iruka didn't block it like before. He watched as Iruka leapt in front of him and heard a slight grunt and liquid warmth cover his face. Naruto could see the pained expression on his sensei's face as he covered him with his own body, the large shuriken sticking out of his back.

"I-Iruka-se-sensei... what?" Seeing this happen all over again wasn't exactly something Naruto wanted to see, but he knew it all had to happen the same way. He still didn't like it, though.

"I ... I didn't hate you ... Naruto! We were ... so much ... alike that I ... wanted you to be better ... than I was." Iruka coughed out a little blood before looking at Naruto and smiling sadly. "I f-failed..." He coughed again, wincing in severe pain as the shuriken shook above him. "Naruto," he whispered, "run. Don't let Mizuki get the scroll."

"Oh! How entertaining! So touching! Iruka, you actually fell for the demon's trickery!" Mizuki laughed out loud as he commented. "Iruka, you truly are a fool. Naruto! Give me the scroll now!" He unhooked the last windmill shuriken from his back after speaking.

"Naruto, if he gets that, any of Konoha's enemies could come for us! Run!" Naruto did exactly what Iruka told him. He grabbed the scroll and took off, ready to get the whole night over with.

"Iruka, you truly are an idiot. Now I have to find him all over again!" With that, the silver-haired Chuunin took off after his elusive prey.

xXxXxXx

Sarutobi was extremely displeased with the way things were being handled. He hadn't expected someone on the inside to have used Naruto's insecurities and willingness to succeed as drive to steal the Forbidden Scroll. Why would he have?

It wasn't even as much that Mizuki had tricked Naruto into pilfering the scroll to begin with, but that Naruto had done it with such ease. Had he not come back for his pipe, Mizuki may very well have gotten away with this. No one would have checked in on the scroll until it was next needed, which could have been months, or up until a new Hokage was inducted into office.

At first, he was truly quite proud of Naruto for having learned the Kage Bunshin technique. He had come in not too long after he started it and was amazed at how quickly he was picking it up. Admittedly, Sarutobi didn't know why Naruto had taken the scroll, but once he realized he was practicing the techniques, he knew it couldn't have been Naruto trying to pull this off on his own. Only a select few actually knew where the Forbidden Scroll was housed. As crafty as Naruto was, which sometimes scared the old man, he knew Naruto wouldn't have been able to figure it all out in one day, and he would have had no reason before failing the Genin Selection Exam to actually plan any of this.

It was when Mizuki told Naruto about the Kyuubi, however, that he felt worse than anything else that night had made him feel. He remembered a few occasions when Naruto was younger that he had asked why the villagers seemed to hate him or if he had some kind of disease that made the adults pull their children away from him. When this was all over, he knew he would have a lot of explaining to do. He just hoped he would be able to do so. Still, though. Something seemed off about the scroll.

xXxXxXx

Naruto was hiding behind a tree as Iruka fell to the forest floor. Iruka had just used a Henge to fool Mizuki into thinking he was Naruto while Mizuki attempted to use a Henge of Iruka to fool Naruto.

"You're a fool, Iruka. You saw the look in his eyes as he left the clearing. They were the eyes of a demon! He's going to use that scroll to destroy the village now. You realize that, don't you?" Mizuki taunted.

"You're right." Naruto prepared himself for the words he knew were coming with pride in the man who came to be his older brother. "_If_ he were the demon, the Kyuubi, then he would destroy the village. But he is Uzumaki Naruto. A protector of Konohagakure! Naruto will never harm this village!" Naruto smiled widely as his heart swelled with pride.

"You're just deluding yourself, Iruka. I had planned to simply let you live, or kill you after taking care of the demon, but I think I'll kill you now! Die Iruka!" Mizuki launched the shuriken he hadn't thrown while they were still all in the clearing at Iruka, a gleeful smile over his face as he watched Iruka accept his fate and not even attempt to dodge. That smile faded, however, when an orange blur came from nowhere and hit the shuriken with a kunai, making it hit to the side of Iruka's shocked head, though only just.

"Don't you lay a **finger** on Iruka-sensei! **I'll kill you if you do!**" Mizuki simply seemed amused by the turn of events.

"What do you truly believe you can do? I'm a Chuunin! You aren't even a Genin! I'll crush you in one blow!"

"And I'll return it a thousand times, teme!" Naruto put his fingers into a cross shop, his index and middle fingers crossing while the rest remained curled as he called out his newest technique. "Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" Suddenly, the entire forest was covered in smoke and when it cleared, every available space was filled with a Naruto clone.

_'Amazing...'_ Iruka thought. _'He was able to learn a Jounin-class technique in only a few hours, and from a scroll, no less. Naruto... amazing...'_

Mizuki, however, was nowhere near as thrilled. He gaped at the sight of a thousand Naruto clones, spinning every which way in hopes of seeing a place where a clone wasn't occupying. "What! Impossible!"

"What's the matter, teme? Weren't you going to kick my ass?" The amplified voice of so many clones, not speaking fully in sync with each other was mesmerizing. It truly made Mizuki feel helpless. "No? Well, then why don't I make the first move!" With that, one thousand Naruto clones attacked the frightened Chuunin, barely leaving enough for Ibiki in the Torture and Interrogation department.

Just as he finished, the Hokage showed up with four ANBU, two of which took Mizuki to the hospital so he could be healed, only to be questioned later. The other two took Iruka for healing as well, but not before Iruka decided Naruto passed his Genin Selection Exam, giving him his own headband as a sign of acceptance and trust. That, and a lack of any extras laying around as he wouldn't taint the experience by using Mizuki's, who he doubted would be wearing it any time soon.

"Naruto. Team Selections are Monday. You had better be there, understood?" A smiling Naruto shook his head that he understood while following the Hokage back to his office to explain exactly what had happened.

"Oi, Old Man! We've gotta get Hinata-chan first." Curiously, the Sandaime raised an eyebrow.

"Why is that, Naruto-kun?" Naruto flashed his trademark grin as the scroll he had in his hands erupted into a cloud of smoke to become the stick it once was.

"I knew Mizuki-teme was up to something, so I failed the ninjutsu portion on purpose since he'd been trying to befriend me. I saw the directions for the Kage Bunshin before giving it to her, just in case he wasn't, and then cast that henge onto the stick. Hinata-chan is the only person I knew I could trust if it was actually a lie since I couldn't tell you or Iruka-sensei due to the rules he gave me." Sarutobi and several of the ANBU raised their eyebrows in surprise. It was actually a good plan. No one would suspect the Hyuuga heiress of having it.

"Why did you choose her and where is she?" Naruto shrugged as he tossed the stick aside and began to walk.

"I chose her because she knew about my fears from the beginning and already agreed to help me in case something like this happened," he said, going into the scripted response when telling the Hokage what was happening. "And we rendezvous," he trailed off as Hinata came from around the edge of the building about thirty yards ahead, "here."

"Hello, Hinata-san. Out for a late night stroll? I do find them to be quite relaxing, myself." Hinata smiled and handed the scroll to the Sandaime who opened it to check its contents and then quickly closed it back up.

"Did you get him, Naruto-kun?" Naruto nodded.

"Yes ma'am," he replied in mock seriousness. "I have stopped the cruelty of the evil one and – OOMPH!" He was cut off as a smiling Hinata elbowed him in the ribs.

"Remember your decorum in front of Hokage-sama," she chided.

"Aw, he's just an old man any – OOMPH!" He covered his ribs after another brutal assault and decided to go with the safe route when your girlfriend gave you an order. "Yes dear."

Sarutobi chuckled as some of the ANBU snickered at their byplay while Iruka's face was simply locked into a state of muted, shocked horror. "I do believe we have a conversation to have, Naruto-kun, Hinata-san."


	3. Butterfly Effect

**Title:** Reforging The Past

**Chapter3 – **Butterfly Effect

**Ship:** Naruto/Hina, Naru/Harem, Naru/Hina/Ino/FemHaku/FemKyuu, Anko/Kurenai

**Author:** Paladeus

**Key:** "Speech", **"Demonic Speech"**, _'Thought'_, _**'Demonic Thought'**_

xXxXxXx

**A/N:** Butterfly Effect – It has been said something as small as the flutter of a butterfly's wing can ultimately cause a typhoon halfway around the world. – Chaos Theory

An aside – Anko and Kurenai will not be in the harem. They are in a relationship together, but will not be a part of anything else. If I get some weird outcry for them to include themselves in something with Naruto and his girls at some point, then I may consider it, but only for a scene or two, not for the whole story. I've got more than enough women in this story with him and do not want to add any more. As such, those of you who have requested Yugito Nii to be included in Naruto's harem, she will not be. She will be in a relationship, however. Just wait and see. I have exactly looked for it, but it is a pairing I have yet to see.

**Challenges:** On my profile is a link to my FF (DOT) Net Forums. On those forums are challenge requests by me to you in the Naruto and Harry Potter universes. I'd greatly appreciate any views on those challenges or anyone who would like to accept them, feel free to let me know. I'd personally like to know if anyone finds them as decent plot devices or not. If you do accept a challenge, feel free to reply to the forum and let others know, preferably after you've posted the first chapter so they have something to visit and you can link to it.

**Recommended Story of the Chapter:** "Birth of a Legend: The Fox Druid" by DarkHeroOrion

**xXx** – STORY – **xXx**

Naruto and Hinata followed the Sandaime Hokage into his office while the ANBU secured the outside and took Iruka to the hospital for treatment. Naruto dragged two of the chairs from the wall to the front of the Sandaime's desk and sat with Hinata while Sarutobi settled himself in his plush chair.

"Alright you two. I'd like to know why you decided to take this event on your own rather than alerting the-"

"Jiji," Naruto interrupted, "there's a lot more to this than Mizuki and the Forbidden Scroll." Naruto and Hinata had decided and agreed upon how much they were going to tell the aging Hokage during their second week back in time and the best way to go about getting their needs met. It was all hinging on getting him to believe them, however.

"Such as what, Naruto?" Naruto and Hinata looked at each other and silently gained a quick burst of assurance from each other before Naruto turned back to Sarutobi and began speaking.

"Alright Jiji. You're going to have to hear me out before you ask any questions. We've got a long story to tell you and I don't want to lose my momentum when I get going." The Sandaime nodded his head and waited for Naruto's tale. He always had a doozy when he got going.

"Well first, how secure is this room?" The Hokage raised an eyebrow at Naruto's opener but activated a soundproofing jutsu while Hinata checked with her Byakugan to make sure no one was around and that there were no listening devices, giving Naruto a nod of approval and then deactivated her doujutsu.

"No one can hear anything being spoken within the room now, Naruto. We can speak freely." Naruto nodded and then leaned back into the couch.

"What do you know about time-travel?" Shocked senseless for a few moments, Sarutobi finally spluttered a reply.

"They are impossible. There have been attempts in the past, yes, but none have ever successfully been used as far as anyone knows." Naruto nodded quickly.

"For obvious reasons, we can't say too much of what we know. However, Hinata-chan and I came back seven years from the future with the Kyuubi's help because things were getting dicey for us and for Konoha."

"You mean to tell me," Sarutobi said disbelievingly before Naruto could continue, "that you and Hinata-san are from the future?" Naruto and Hinata both nodded. "Why?"

"We were at war and things were about to get very, very bad. I had a jutsu that I planned to use that would take out enough of their numbers to leave them only outnumbering us three-to-one instead of about seven-to-one," Naruto said as the Hokage seemed to pale at the implications. Just for the possibility that this wasn't some sick joke. "However, using it would have killed off Kyuubi almost immediately by using all of her power and I would have followed after not much longer. She didn't want to die, so she offered us this."

"Who were we at war with?"

"Orochimaru." Sarutobi sighed and pulled out his pipe and began smoke, hoping to get a slightly stronger hold on the situation.

"I don't suppose either of you can offer me any proof of this?"

"Well, only our memories came back. No chakra, nothing physical came back and no physical changes happened because of the time traveling. So we could only really think of a couple of things that would work," Hinata said. This was a topic she made very sure to overrule anything Naruto thought to offer to tell Sarutobi when it would be too much. Something about what she said seemed _off_ to the aged Hokage, but couldn't catch it right away and didn't want to dwell on it.

"What things were those, Hinata-san?" Hinata gave a pointed look to Naruto, knowing that he knew what she wanted to show the old man. Naruto, always willing to entertain, held his right hand out causing a swirling mass of blue chakra to form in the palm of his hand. His increased chakra control making it nearly as easy as breathing. He looked up to see the Sandaime with a gobsmacked expression plastered across his face.

"Naruto, where did you learn that?" Sarutobi felt a severe case of deja vu as he watched Naruto form the Rasengan in his hand. Only two men had known that technique. One was an old pervert and the other was the Yondaime himself. Naruto simply let the technique die out as he smiled brightly.

"Ero-sensei taught me about six years ago," suddenly seeing where he was going wrong, he amended himself. "Er, make that in about seven months." Hinata smiled and looked to the Hokage.

"We're also aware of who Naruto-kun's parents truly were. Namikaze Minato, Yondaime Hokage of Konoha and Uzumaki Kushina, Jounin of what was formerly Whirlpool before Iwa's destruction of it." Sarutobi slouched in his chair as he realized that the two of them were either _very_ sure of their information and created this elaborate story for confirmation, or they really were from the future. Only seven people know of Naruto's lineage, and none of them would have said anything.

"So, it would seem you truly did come back," he said gravely. "What are your plans now that you've returned?"

"Well," Hinata began, "the last time through, only my team had any actual specialization as trackers. Naruto-kun's team was generalized-"

"And Kakashi-teme only taught me tree-climbing in the year I was with him," Naruto interrupted her, getting a firm whack on the back of his head for his trouble.

"Anyway," Hinata continued, "we would like you to put at least myself and Naruto on the same team. I was with Aburame Shino and Inuzuka Kiba under Yuuhi Kurenai and she taught us quite a bit, so we can work well under her. Kakashi-san did very little with his team, leaving us with quite a bit of time to work on things on our own if we should be placed with him and," she blushed lightly and couldn't look the Sandaime in the eye, "Sarutobi Asuma did as little as possible aside from playing shogi with Shikamaru during his team's training periods. We think he relied on the synergy of a Nara-Aka-Yama group like their parents."

Sarutobi's cheeks pinked lightly at hearing of his son's lackluster performances, but couldn't deny the likelihood that it was exactly what he may have done. However, he couldn't give them to a teacher who would teach them nothing. It would be a waste of resources and abilities.

"So you would like to gain a sensei for a more specialized purpose, then. What do you feel your objectives will be for the next several years?"

"Well, we will need to to gain skills to get information on Orochimaru, his people, Akatsuki and any other potential enemies. Kumo and Iwa took any chances they could to align against us, but we never figured out exactly when they joined up with Orochimaru. We know it was after the Chuunin exams, but are unsure exactly when."

"Why are you sure it was after the Chuunin exams," he asked, hoping there was a specific event that he could use to make Konoha shine where they may have failed previously. Naruto frowned and scrunched his forehead in thought.

"Well, Sound and Sand attacked us during the final stages of the Chuunin Selection exams when it was hosted in Konoha, so they would have attacked during that if they were going to. We were almost wiped out as it was. But, I don't actually know _why_ they didn't attack afterwards."

"Actually, Tsunade mentioned that one night after she had been drinking a bit," Hinata offered. Had Sarutobi not believed them before, that would have clinched it for him. "Word spread through Suna and Oto about how you handled Gaara single-handedly, and they were worried that we had another Yondaime on our hands," she giggled at Naruto's surprised expression.

"Well, think about it. Gaara is well-known as a jinchuuriki of Shukaku and survived, unscathed from over a hundred assassination attempts and all of his missions and you defeated him. They were worried about what you could have done in an invasion situation without having to face a jinchuuriki who released his demon." Naruto smiled brightly, scratching the back of his head in amusement while Sarutobi looked back and forth between the two of them.

"What are you talking about?" He knew about Subaku no Gaara. Any major leader knew about him since Suna never bothered to keep the status of their jinchuuriki a secret. It was widely known that his seal was the weakest available and they had hired Jiraiya to look at it in the past. If he joined in the fighting, then they had to have lost the majority of their numbers.

"Well, at the time of the invasion, Gaara was still pretty homicidal and killed pretty much anyone. I fought him and won, even after he let Shukaku take full control and possess him." Sarutobi leaned back and took in what he had heard for a few moments before deciding he'd have to think things over before making any real decisions. Until then, he could help the two out in any way possible.

"Is there anything you feel you can tell me that I should be wary of in the coming months and years?"

"During the finals at the Chuunin Exams, Orochimaru, who will be under the guise of the Kazekage after killing him, will have you trapped in a barrier of some kind and summon the first two Hokages. You end up using the Shiki Fuuin to kill those two and take Orochimaru's arms, which forces him into taking a new body to survive," Naruto said.

"It is that very action, as the jutsu to do so can only be used every three years at minimum, that gives us three years to wait for him after Uchiha Sasuke defects from us to gain power to kill Itachi. After your death, Ero-sensei and I go to bring back Tsunade and her assistant, Shizune, to be the Godaime Hokage. During the next three years, I go on a training trip with Ero-sensei to learn to control the Kyuubi's power, seals and better taijutsu while Sakura learns from Tsunade. During this time, we lose forces in thanks to hit and run ambush tactics by Orochimaru and Akatsuki devises and implements their plans to gather all of the jinchuuriki for their ultimate weapon, though we have no clue what it is or what their motivations are." Naruto held up his hands in a helpless gesture. "As much as I hate to admit it, your using that technique on Orochimaru to force him to change bodies so quickly is what gave us those three years reprieve from most of Orochimaru's plans. He had put everything on hold to train up Sasuke so he could steal his body and not have as much work to do on it, so we'll have to try and figure out a safer way to take his arms from him," Naruto finished, leaning back.

"I'm afraid that's all we can tell you without going into details of pretty much everything, or things that won't matter." Sarutobi sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Very well, then. I will think over what you have told me and form the teams accordingly." He looked almost desperately at the two in front of him as an idea struck. "What about Sasuke? Do you know of any ways we may be able to keep him in Konoha?" Both shook their heads.

"From what I understand, Sakura wormed her way into his heart during our times together, but not enough to keep him from turning on us. I learned a while after returning from my training trip with Ero-sensei about that." Sarutobi nodded in grim acceptance.

"Very well. And you, Hinata-san," he asked turning to her. "I've heard much about Naruto's involvement, but you haven't spoken much. Can you add anything?" Hinata shrugged and looked apologetic.

"Naruto-kun was in the middle of everything that happened. The Chuunin exams, the invasion, Orochimaru, Sasuke and the Akatsuki. In my case, my team worked together as trackers until Naruto returned. After that, and after Sakura-san's death at the hands of Sasuke, Tsunade took me on as an apprentice for two years before we came back, with the occasional mission with Naruto-kun to try and retrieve Sasuke from Orochimaru's hold. I wasn't a part of much that had happened until the war started. I haven't even managed to learn her super-strength technique yet, though I understand the theory for the temporary version." The Sandaime steepled his fingers and nodded.

"I understand. I will think about your needs in the future and attempt to think of how best to use your talents for what is to come. Have you both participated in the skirmishes in the war," he asked, getting nods.

"If you're trying to find a delicate way of asking if we've killed, then yes. If you mean planning anything or being in on the intelligence, then only partially," Naruto said. "The council forbid me from participating with anything I knew, regardless of its use since they feared I may work against them, and most of what I learned came from Hinata-chan, since she was allowed to be in there with the Hokage during their strategy meetings."

"Alright. I think I have everything I need. If you feel you need to give me any new information, please don't hesitate to offer it. I understand you do not want to change too much of the future to make your knowledge obsolete, but it is also not a good idea to rely on it so much that you lose focus of where things change." Both Naruto and Hinata's eyes widened. They hadn't really considered that they could rely too strongly on their knowledge, but they suddenly realized that they were changing things incredibly by simply changing the teams, no matter how necessary it would be.

"I will create the teams and see what I can do about finding you a compatible third member. While I think it may be a good idea to put you with Sasuke to keep an eye on him, I'm worried about keeping you active with two members and a third who is unfamiliar with your methods." Sarutobi shook his head to clear it and grew stern-faced.

"I will place you both on classified S-class missions to find and eliminate Orochimaru and the members of Akatsuki as you can. This will be an ongoing mission, so you will be paid accordingly. I will also count this event tonight as an SS-class mission by labeling Mizuki as a traitor who knew a lot more than we thought he would to begin with and give them to you as seperate missions since you both did something different," he told them, making their eyes go wide. An SS-class mission would keep Naruto paid and in comfort for a few months, not counting the ongoing one where he would be paid continuously. "This will also allow me to classify the missions so only myself and those I tell will have any information on this. I can think of no safer way to protect it than the Hokage's personal mission vaults. Aside from the rank in your Genin files, no specifics aside from your return status can be obtained."

"I am doing this in part for the information you've been able to provide, but also, so you can buy any equipment you may need so you can buy whatever you need to outfit yourself and get yourselves back up to speed. Do you have any questions?" Both shook their heads and Sarutobi deactivated the soundproofing seal in the room.

"Thank you for your information. I'm sure Mizuki can fill in the rest." Realizing they were being dismissed, both Naruto and Hinata bowed and turned to leave before Naruto turned back to him.

"Oh, Old Man. In about three and a half months, you'll get an escort mission from an old drunk called Tazuna to the land of Wave. He's a bridge builder. I need my team on that mission." Quirking an eyebrow, Sarutobi asked the follow-up question.

"Why is that, Naruto?"

"Well, when I went there with Team Seven, there were two missing nin. They were killed during the fight at the bridge where Sasuke activated his Sharingan and they learned that they were betrayed by their employer, but I think I may be able to get them on our side. One has a powerful bloodline and the other is a member of the Seven Swordsmen from Mist."

"I'll see what I can do, Naruto." With a smile, Naruto left with Hinata, who was waiting at the door for him. Once he was alone, the Sandaime looked around suspiciously before stomping his right leg onto the ground with a pulse of chakra, causing a hidden latch to pop open and a large bottle of sake was pulled out with a grunt and heavy sigh.

"I need a bigger bottle."

xXxXxXx

Naruto and Hinata worked the rest of the weekend on testing most of the ninjutsu they knew and adapt themselves to using them with their current chakra control and reserves. Naruto in particular was thrilled that the rasengan itself was so much easier for him to use. Even adding in his wind element into it was a simple thing for him to do. He just had to limit himself from using it since Genin didn't work with nature manipulation.

Hinata, however, was thrilled with her own personal skills. All techniques aside from the techniques she knew that were traditionally non-Hyuuga, she was able to use as freely as she wanted. The only things she had to limit herself from using were some of the more advanced medical jutsu she had learned from Tsunade. She kept most secret like Naruto, but was more than pleased to show them off later.

"So, why haven't you tried to summon any toads?" Hinata was currently leaning against a tree as she sat and relaxed after their latest sparring session. Naruto was hanging upside down from the branch above her by his feet with chakra and batting her hair back and forth like a cat with string.

"Well, Kyuubi mentioned that we would be able to summon her before we came back, right?" He paused only a moment to watch her nod. "She's been asleep since we changed the seal, so I haven't been able to ask her about that. I'm worried about trying to summon a toad before I sign the contract again. I may try to summon a toad, but might accidentally summon her instead, especially since I haven't technically signed the toad contract in this time line. And she said she could control her size, but she would be big the first time, so I didn't want to risk it anywhere near Konoha."

"Ah. Good point," she said, leaning back comfortably.

"Who do you think the old man is going to put with us?"

"I'm not sure," she said. "I suppose it depends on what he does with the information we gave him. He could put us with Sasuke to keep an eye on him and possibly take him out if it comes to it, or Shikamaru for his mental aptitude or Shino for his kikai bugs and what they can do." She shrugged, showing she wasn't really overly concerned while Naruto nodded in agreement.

"Unless he decides to put us with someone totally new or leave us as our own two person squad!" Hinata giggled as Naruto began to bounce in place, but laughed outrageously when he bounced too hard and jumped into the ground.

"We'll just have to see when we get there, Naruto-kun. Now come on, I'm being forced into dinner tonight at home, but you can buy me lunch," she said, grinning as she helped him up. "And no ramen!"

"Cheeky little minx, aren't you?"

xXxXxXx

Naruto had been so excited that he'd actually tricked the two leotard-clad men his mornings had been reserved for to run around the village as fast as they could, giving him the opportunity to leave early. When he arrived back at his apartment, Hinata was already there and laying on his couch, waiting for him to show up so they could go to the Academy.

As was their new custom, Naruto and Hinata walked into the classroom that Monday, both sitting in the back of the the classroom where they had been for the last whole month.

"I'm so glad you don't plan on trying to kiss Sasuke this time around, Naruto-kun," Hinata said, her expression anything but innocent.

"You know very well that wasn't a kiss! And I didn't _want_ to do it!" Hinata snickered and hugged Naruto's arm to herself.

"Of course, Naruto-kun. I believe you," she said, sounding anything but sincere, causing Naruto to grumble good-naturedly as Sakura and Ino came in and took a seat two rows away from them, three rows from where they knew the Uchiha to sit.

"I wonder why they aren't fighting over Sasuke like last time," Naruto murmured to himself. He looked where he knew Sasuke was supposed to be but found him not there yet. "Oh, they showed up earlier than they did last time. They even seem more civil towards one another and aren't fighting over him yet." Beside him, Hinata blushed, thinking Ino may very well have taken her advice.

"Sasuke-kun!" Both Sakura and Ino rushed to surround both of Sasuke's sides as he sat in his seat, latching onto his arms like squealing, giggling leeches.

_'Maybe she didn't,'_ Hinata thought.

"Alright you lot! Sit down and shut up," Iruka commanded as he walked through the door with a clipboard in his hands. "Congratulations each of you. You're Genin and-" he was cut off as the most of the students cheered for themselves and their accomplishment before getting them back under control. Then, he explained how the life of a ninja was to take their missions and protect their village until they were unable to do so any longer. At this point, Naruto laid his head on the desk and toned everything out until Hinata's elbow in his side brought his attention back in the middle of team placements.

"Team Seven: Haruno Sakura, Inuzuka Kiba and Uchiha Sasuke-"

"YES! TAKE THAT, INO-PIG! Sasuke is all mine and-"

"Sit down and shut up, Sakura!" Iruka yelled, already in a bad mood thanks to the Sandaime changing the teams to his own placements.

"Your sensei is Hatake Kakashi. Team Eight: Hyuuga Hinata, Uzumaki Naruto and Yamanaka Ino. You actually have two teachers; Yuuhi Kurenai and Mitarashi Anko." Suddenly, Naruto screamed bloody murder and flew back out of his chair onto his butt.

"YOU MEAN YOU'RE STICKING US WITH THAT PSYCHO SNAKE CHICK!" His eyes moved back and forth as if expecting her to pop up out of nowhere. The entire class at this point was looking at him with wide eyes.

"Is there a problem, Naruto?" Iruka asked, rather surprised at the boy's actions. While the adults held a tendency to look down on her for her past, he honestly wouldn't have thought Naruto would be one to follow suite considering his own unique history.

"Er ... she hasn't exactly liked me since a few years ago when I pranked her by lacing her dango with laxatives," he mumbled, currently looking under his desk.

"THAT WAS YOU!?" An enraged shout from above the ceiling tiles in the corner of the room brought everyone's attention back again as the tile in the corner broke and an enraged Anko dropped down, fury in her eyes. "I WAS ON MY WAY TO A MONTH-LONG BORDER PATROL MISSION YOU LITTLE SHIT!" Kurenai poked her head down from the hole in the ceiling, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Anko, we weren't supposed to be seen observing the new Genin!" Anko seemed to ignore her as she drew a kunai in each hand.

"YOU'RE MINE, RAMEN BOY!" Naruto let out a squeak as he dodged each of the kunai she sent his way. Meanwhile, the rest of the class ignored them aside from Hinata, who tried to tell him he was only getting what he deserved. "BEND OVER AND TAKE IT LIKE A MAN!"

"Iruka-sensei," Ino asked while ignoring the girlish squeal from Naruto who was now clutching his butt, "why are Hinata and I on the same team? Isn't it normally two guys and a girl?" Sasuke snorted and finally decided to open his mouth.

"Isn't it obvious? Why else would you have two different teachers instead of the usual one? With the dead last on your team, you're obviously the team that was put together because you're all useless." Suddenly, the kunai stopped flying as both Anko and Naruto turned to the last Uchiha.

"Wanna say that again, _teme_?" Naruto asked as he cracked his knuckles.

"I think the Uchiha needs to be taught a lesson," Anko said, two black mamba's slithered from within the sleeves of her trenchcoat.

"All of you! Sit down!" Iruka's voice, a standard tone used for students who were bad, immediately caused all of those who were standing to sit wherever they were. In the case of Naruto and Anko, that was in the middle of the aisle.

"Now, Ino, the Sandaime-sama created the teams himself this time around. Naruto, Hinata and yourself are going to be a special assignment squad based on all of your unique talents. Anko and Kurenai should be able to tell you more about it. Now no more questions!" He straightened his vest before going back to his clipboard.

"Team Ten is going to be Akamichi Chouji, Nara Shikamaru and Aburame Shino. Your sensei is Sarutobi Asuma. You will all enjoy an hour long lunch and then come back to meet," he looked askance at Anko who was inching a kunai towards Naruto, "or rather, _officially_ meet, your instructors from here on out. I recommend taking this time to get to know your teammates. Good luck, everyone." Almost immediately, Naruto took off like a rocket, followed by Anko as the other students congregated towards their new teammates. The exception being Haruno Sakura, who was suddenly stuck to Sasuke like a squealing leech before being pried off and Sasuke left quickly.

Ino made her way over to Hinata and they walked together to a large tree and began to eat from their bentos. "So. Kinda weird how they decided to set up our team, eh?" Hinata nodded her head as she swallowed a bite of rice.

"Yes. We certainly hadn't expected that, but I suppose it makes sense." Ino frowned at Hinata in confusion.

"Weren't expecting what?" Hinata barely repressed a cringe as she realized her mistake. Academy students weren't supposed to know or be able to influence the teams.

"Well-" She was cut off as an orange blob landed on the ground next to her.

"Lost her!" He said, accepting the food Hinata was handing him. "Thanks, Tenshi-chan."

"You know she'll just be here in an hour and get you then, right? She knows exactly where you'll be," Ino said, smirking as his face paled.

"Damnit." Both girls laughed lightly as they continued to eat.

"You know, I honestly expected for myself and Shikamaru and Chouji to end up on a team together. Our parents thought it would happen, too. They've even had us playing together since we were born for probably that very reason." Ino shook her head in wonderment of how she could have expected something as almost ironclad and then be thrown for the proverbial loop.

"Well, we'll see what they have to tell us later," Hinata said, pilfering a piece of tuna from Naruto's plate while he looked around quickly for any sign of Anko.

xXxXxXx

"Team Eight, with us!" Kurenai and Anko led the three kids, Naruto being sure to keep both girls in front of him and behind Anko, out and to the pond behind the Academy. They settled themselves by the beginners' swimming section in a small circle.

"Don't worry, kid," Anko said to Naruto with a casual smirk. "If I'm going to get you back, it's going to be when I can make it _far_ more humiliating." Naruto shivered. He knew that smirk. That was the smirk she had when she faced off against Orochimaru and sacrificed her life just to take an arm with her to the afterlife. That was a smirk that said he was doomed.

"Be nice, Anko-sensei. I don't want to have to kill you for harming my Naruto-kun." The matter of fact way Hinata chastised Anko surprised each of them, though the smile on her own face is what really creeped Anko out. She couldn't tell if the girl was playing with her or serious.

"Hinata, are you okay?" Kurenai asked. Hinata was never one to threaten anyone before. She was always a gentle and loving girl who had the most obvious crush on the most idiotic boy in the village. It seemed he finally figured it out after five years, but really!

"Yes, Kurenai-sensei. But if anyone gets to punish Naruto-kun, I'd rather it be me," she finished with a wink that had the elder woman spluttering while Ino and Anko laughed uproariously and Naruto blushed. He liked his punishments so far...

"O-Okay. Let's get this shindig rolling," Anko said from the ground. "Likes, dislikes, dreams for the future; that sort of thing. Ramen Brat, you first." Naruto glared, but did as ordered.

"Uzumaki Namikaze Naruto. I like ramen, trying to eat new types of ramen and Hinata-chan, even though she won't let me eat it more than once a day, training and developing new jutsu. I hate temes and the three minutes it takes for ramen to finish cooking, and I _really_ hate how long it takes for Hinata's homemade ramen to cook, but it is _so_ worth it!" He said, wiggling his fingers and taking on a dreamy expression. Meanwhile, as Hinata and Ino giggled, Anko leaned over to Kurenai.

"This kid has a one-track mind," she whispered, causing Kurenai to nod.

"My dreams for the future are to be the best kage _ever_ and have a big family," he finished, looking at a brightly blushing Hinata who was smiling brightly, causing Kurenai's cackles to rise.

"Any 'family making' happening within the next five years, and I'll personally take my whole kunai set to your baby-making regions, understand me?" Kurenai was leaning over the terrified blonde with a kunai between each finger in her fists.

"Yes ma'am," he squeaked. After another second-turned-eternity, Kurenai let up on her glare and motioned to Hinata to go next.

"Hyuuga Hinata. I like cooking and teriyaki yakatori, Naruto-kun, even if he _does_ eat too much ramen, medical jutsu and training. I dislike those who are conceited or treat others poorly without first getting to know them. And my dream is to be part of Naruto-kun's very large family," she finished with a grin towards Kurenai that was unmistakable in its meaning: 'His baby-making regions are all mine!' that caused Anko to burst into laughter again while Ino blushed and snickered.

"Don't worry, Kurenai-sensei. We don't plan to do anything that far any time soon," Hinata assured the sputtering woman, bringing her out of her shock. Sighing, she motioned for Ino to continue.

"Erm, I'm Yamanaka Ino. I like flowers, boys and doing better than Sakura. I dislike people who think girls can't be good kunoichi and people who think I'm an idiot simply because I'm blonde," She said, each person around her noting that she didn't mention Sasuke as of yet when she was a known founder of the boy's fanclub. "As for dreams for the future, I'm not really sure. I know I want to prove that women can be powerful kunoichi and kick ass when we need to while maintaining beauty and grace," she smiled brightly before going back to a thinking pose, "but don't know other than that."

It was true, too. She used to think her largest goal was to beat the only girl she really thought of as a real rival, Haruno Sakura, to Uchiha Sasuke's heart. However, after spending a short time during the day with Naruto and Hinata nearly a month previously, she tried figuring out why Hinata, heiress to the largest clan in Konoha, _wouldn't_ want to try and snag the hottest guy in all of Konoha. After looking at it objectively, she realized one really big thing: Uchiha Sasuke was a complete ass. He was a diva who used the fate of his family to get what he wanted from adults and ignored any woman who came his way.

"Well," Kurenai said, looking at each of them, glaring at Naruto, "you have each got admirable goals, for the most part. We'll see what we can do to help you achieve your _realistic_ dreams," her glare towards Naruto increasing while Anko offered a thumbs up to Hinata before picking up where Kurenai left off to pick on her latest victim.

"Now, normally we would offer you a test of some form or another to see if you would actually become Genin or go back to the Academy-"

"What do you mean, Anko-sensei?" Ino asked.

"Well, out of all of the Genin that graduate the Academy, only nine actually become Genin on average. The rest are usually sent to the Academy to retrain and try again at a later time. However, by special order of the Sandaime Hokage, the three of you will be specially trained, which is why Kurenai and myself are here to train you instead of the usual one sensei like your other classmates."

"So, why are we being specially trained? What are we going to be doing?" Both Kurenai and Anko frowned slightly as they glanced at each other. While Naruto and Hinata knew what was going on, they didn't, and Ino knew that look between her parents enough to know that the two of them weren't totally pleased with whatever situation they were in.

"We aren't sure what he expects you to do, but we know that he wants us to train you with everything we know; assassination, espionage, trapping, tracking, infiltration and anything else we can think of that you may need to know," Anko said, noting Naruto and Hinata looking calm and collected while Ino's eyes were about to fall out of her head.

"What the hell do they expect us to do! Take on an army all on our own!" She shrieked, causing Kurenai to raise her hands in a warding off gesture as Anko snorted.

"You won't be going after an army on your own, Ino," Kurenai said smiling gently before Anko picked up again.

"Yea. And besides, you and the other girls in your class spent so much time fawning over the Uchiha prick that you're _way_ behind in strength, speed and ability compared to any kunoichi who could handle a real-time battle," she said before noticing a fierce killer intent coming from Hinata. Wide-eyed, she looked at her before wincing. "Well, out of his fangirls, that is." Hinata nodded in a 'damn straight' manner before leaning back.

"Anyway, you three won't be tested to see if you make Genin. The Sandaime told us that you were to pass no matter what, but that we could test you to see where you stand in a real-time environment." Each of the new Genin raised an eyebrow as Kurenai finished and Anko's predatory smirk hinted at the glimmer of happiness in her eyes.

"Alright you three," Anko said, rubbing her hands together. "Test time!"

xXxXxXx

Naruto dodged left and leapt off the side wall of the hallway and over the hail of kunai and poisoned senbon as they thudded into the space he'd just escaped from as Hinata ducked and rolled past an ice jutsu that launched from a seal in the wall behind him.

"What the hell is _wrong_ with that bastard!" Naruto used a quick kunai swipe to break a spear head that came from the carpeted floor that had nearly taken out his 'baby-making' region while Ino dodged more poisoned senbon in the room behind him.

"What kind of a perverted bastard goes to these kinds of lengths to protect a fucking Icha Icha collection!" Ino took refuge behind a couch that thudded lightly as the senbon ripped into its cushions.

"Remind me," Hinata said, sending a blast of chakra into the wall to disable a strong paralysis jutsu before it launched, "to look into mail-order wives for Kakashi-baka!" Over their radio headsets, Anko and Kurenai laughed uproariously. Kakashi's traps and jutsu seals were in place to protect him and his home from rogue ninja who hoped to win the bounty on his head from multiple countries, usually nuke-nin. It was for that reason that all of the senbon were poisoned with extremely powerful sedative poisons, so he could capture and turn them in himself, which was just enough to keep him from going broke for his pornographic fetishes. Just barely.

"Duly noted," Naruto said as he finally broke the hallway and into the large study with a large bookshelf against the far wall where the pervert kept his stash of erotica. He rolled to his feet and looked about suspiciously, noting the lack of hurling projectiles covered in, he hoped beyond hope, wasn't an aphrodisiac-sedative cocktail. That would lead to issues he'd really hope to avoid. "I'm in!"

Hinata landed on the ground next to him, he Byakugan active and her eyes looking about warily. "I see chakra-sensitive seals between each Icha Icha book. Affects unknown. Several deadly seals around the broken weapon over the fireplace mantle. No guards, seals or traps around his jutsu library," she finished, looking pointedly at Naruto who nodded in acknowledgment. _'A new trove of stolen jutsu...'_ Just to keep himself from making a scene, he cackled madly within his own mind.

"What do you think, Naruto-kun? Our mission is to get as much of his collection as we can." Naruto looked about for a moment before smiling evilly.

"We go the way of Ero-sannin." Over the headset, both Anko and Kurenai looked at each other in confusion as they mouthed 'Ero-sannin' at each other. Naruto continued to explain to Hinata as he moved over to the bookshelf against the wall, making sure to stay to the side with jutsu scrolls. "Anko-sensei said the old man authorized this mission as a test because he 'knew Kakashi's habits', even if she _did_ fail to mention he was a paranoid bastard," he mumbled more to himself. "Anyway, the mission was to succeed in getting Kakashi's books, which means we should be excused for, er," he looked about sheepishly, "_unorthodox_ means of getting them." He pulled a scroll out of his pocket and drew a few quick designs on it before everyone over the comm-link heard a cry of 'Fuuin!'

"Smart move, Naruto-kun," Hinata said with a smile. "Why deal with the traps when we can just take them with us to deal with later?" Naruto smiled brightly at her.

"Thanks!" Naruto quickly wrote out a ransom note for the trove of purloined smut and left it stuck to the wall where Kakashi would be sure to notice it.

"Guys! I've got something in here, also!" Ino called from another room where she was checking for any additional targets. Naruto palmed his face and groaned into his hand.

"How much damned porn has this pervert _got!_" Hinata patted him on the shoulder comfortingly.

"You knew he was a pervert, Naruto-kun. It really was expected, after all." Naruto was not very sure if he was glad that he had never seen such horrors in his last time around, when he was a more impressionable youth, or if he wished he had so he would have been more prepared for the spear that had been aimed for his crotch. _'All bloody four of them!'_

"I know, but I never knew he was _this_ bad!" Ignoring him, Hinata used her Byakugan and looked down the hall.

"Most of the traps were tripped at once when you reached the middle of the hallway. If we run through from this side, we should make it out just before we get attacked again." Naruto nodded and they rushed through, making their way over to Ino who was in Kakashi's bedroom, just at the doorway.

"What is it," Naruto asked, looking about the room only to be disgusted. "That is just wrong." He noticed a large, plastic doll that was blown up and tucked into the bed on one side with a stack of erotic magazines at the side of the bed with crumpled tissues all over the room and a small television against the wall at the foot of the bed, covered in loose videotapes. Beside him, Hinata dry-heaved.

"There is no way in hell I'm going into that room, Naruto-kun." Ino nodded mutely in agreement.

"Are there any traps or anything we need to worry about," he asked, ignoring her remark. Shuddering in disgust, she activated her Byakugan and looked about.

"The window is heavily trapped, especially on the outside, but there's nothing in the room itself aside from..." She trailed off with a cringe, "aside from _evidence_ of his lonely lifestyle."

Naruto entered the room slowly as both girls took either side of the doorway and worked their way outwards. As he got to the television, he noticed a tape half way into the VCR unit. Looking at the title, he saw 'Anko torturing Kurenai – 1hr, 27 min'. Not remembering anything about this from his 'past', and knowing that both women considered each other close friends, he snatched the tape out and looked at another tape next to the TV, seeing 'Anko and Kurenai – Dirty Esc – 2hr, 12 min'. Frowning, Naruto put all of the tapes into a box on the floor filled with many others, but some on the top with different names and sealed it into the scroll next to the bookshelf.

_'This could be serious. Hinata-chan and I are going to have to go over these and make sure he hasn't been using his Sharingan to make them hurt each other.'_ He looked over to see both girls were unaware of his activities. Hinata knew him well enough to ask questions later, but Ino would cause trouble where the two women in question may be brought into it and there was no telling what they would do if it was found out. At leas this way, they could make a case and bring it to the Hokage if needed.

"Either of you two ladies find anything else?" Ino held a hand over her mouth and nose and used a kunai to move a crusty pair of boxers from over a magazine on the nightstand.

"Nothing I want to remember," she said as Hinata tip-toed away from a stack of crumpled and used tissues in the corner furthest away from the door.

"There's a waste basket under all those used tissues, Naruto-kun, and an old scroll," she brushed imaginary dirt from her clothes frantically for a moment before looking at him with pleading eyes. "There is nothing of use in the rest of here that I can see. Can we get out of here now? I feel dirty." Naruto nodded.

"Alright. We've got everything we can get and Kakashi should be meeting up with his team at any moment and he never stays at meetings longer than he needs to."

"Oh thank Kami!" Ino said, throwing her hands into the air. "This guy is more pathetic than," she paused with a blank look on her face before she threw her hands back up again, "well, there are too many people to say, but ... _everyone_ I suppose." Hinata giggled as Naruto smiled brightly at her.

"Ino-chan, you are going to be perfect for this team!" Ino struck a pose and smiled beautifully at him.

"Naturally!" Following Hinata's directions to step as she stepped, they made their way out of Kakashi's home, the path much easier since the traps and dangers were mostly already tripped before they even knew they were there and forced to use Hinata's Byakugan.

"Alright you guys," Kurenai said, amused, as they all met at the rendezvous point. "You seem to all be in one piece. Did you complete your mission?" Ino bounced up in her seat and flashed the victory sign.

"You bet, sensei!" She changed her expression from happy to furious as she placed her balled up fists on her hips. "But you should be ashamed of yourselves for sending us into that pervert's house! It was _horrible_ in there!" Kurenai had the grace to look sheepish while Anko outright laughed at Ino.

"Girl, it's time you learned that _all_ men are perverts! I mean, look at Naruto," she said, gesturing to the blonde who was simply sitting and watching the proceedings. "The first day we met and he was talking about makin' babies with his little girlfriend, there!"

"Hey!" Everyone ignored Naruto's squawk of indignation.

"Now, I'll freely admit that Kakashi is one of the worst, but you have have to suspect that every man's intention," she ignored, but noted, Naruto's killer intent, "is to get into your pants. Or rather, get you out of them." Deciding that was enough of a potentially dangerous conversation, Kurenai interrupted Ino's retort.

"Anyway, Naruto, it sounded like you used a sealing jutsu over the headset and we don't see any books on you guys, so why don't you guys debrief and tell us what happened?" Naruto nodded and did as he was ordered, slipping easily into debriefing mode and standing at attention.

"Mission objective was to gather any and all Icha Icha Paradise volumes found within the residence of Hatake Kakashi. After breaking into Hatake's home, we found a massive amount of mostly offensive traps set strategically and defensively. All volumes were found within a study on a single bookshelf that also held a multitude of jutsu scrolls and other miscellaneous things. Each volume was protected with an offensive seal. I used a simple storage seal to take the entire bookshelf, with the intention of copying all jutsu and to give ourselves as much time as needed after we were away from the scene to deal with the frightening amount of defensive measures the lonely and obviously depressed pervert took to keep his erotica safe." Hinata palmed her face as Naruto added in his own unique spin to his debriefing.

"I also left a ransom note stuck to the wall in case you wanted to do anything with this later or if you want to leave a few extra notes and make him run through some hoops," he said shrugging. "Either way, it wasn't signed and cannot link to us in any way. And since we'll either never give them back, or give them back later, we may as well make the pervert pay for them." Kurenai blinked owlishly as Anko burst into laughter and clapped Naruto on the back.

"Ha! We'll make a ninja out of you yet, kid!"

"What did the note say, exactly?" Kurenai asked.

"I didn't want a lot of words, so I wrote 'Your protections were not enough, Copycat. If you desire your collection back, eat at Moriki Barbecue on Sunday for lunch and you will receive your instructions'," Naruto shrugged. "I figured that, if you wanted anything done, we have five days to plan and one to execute while doing what we can to take on the role of his waiter or waitress." Wide-eyed, both Anko and Kurenai looked at each other and smiled. The kid just set up a perfect assignment for what they were supposed to be learning from them.

"Well, it looks like we have a team." The three Genin smiled proudly at each other, pleased with their accomplishments that day. "Since Naruto gave us a golden opportunity, we'll work on what we want to happen next Sunday. We'll meet tomorrow morning at seven right here, alright?" Several nods met Kurenai's question and the two adults took off to report to the Hokage while the other three split up, Ino heading to her home above the flower shop her parents owned and Hinata following Naruto at his request.

xXxXxXx

Hinata fell backwards into Naruto's couch as he walked over to the television in the corner and unsealed a large, cardboard box. "What is that, Naruto-kun?"

"This is why I had you come over," he said, taking out the tape on top and tossing it to her. Her eyes widened as she saw the title. "There are a couple with their names on them, so I thought we should see what they are in case he's been using his Sharingan to force either of them into hurting the other. They were best friends in the past," he scrunched up his face before backtracking, "well, _our_ past, anyway. And we never heard about this, so I thought we should look through the tapes and see if we can build a case to take to Jiji if we have to." He took the tape back from her as she got up to look at the titles in the box.

"How could we have not known about this the first time through?" Hinata asked, furious at Kakashi's actions. Kurenai was all but a mother to her the first time through in her life and Anko, while not nearly as close, was around quite often when Hinata would stay at Kurenai's an extra day or two after long missions or after late training nights until Kurenai had started to see Asuma romantically just because Kurenai didn't want Hinata at the Hyuuga residence any more than Hinata wanted to be there.

"What channel does this damned VCR have to be on to make it work!" Naruto whacked the top of the black box in frustration as Hinata noticed a new title on one of the tapes; 'Women's Bathhouse – Anko, Kure, Yuu'.

"Erm ... Naruto-kun? I don't think these are what we think they-" She was cut off by a sudden scream of pain from the now-working television and the sound of Anko's commanding voice.

"_Moan for me, my pet!" There was a smack as Anko used a flat leather stick against the bare bottom of Yuuhi Kurenai, already a bright pink from abuse. Kurenai, who was on her knees and tied to the center of a room by a rope and collar around her neck, did as she was told and moaned through a red, rubber ball gag in her mouth._

"Oh sweet Kami," Naruto said lifelessly, his eyes glued to the screen. Hinata, her mouth wide open moved over closer to where he was standing and stared blankly at what she was seeing.

"I had no idea they were ... That they did ..." her voice trailed off as they saw what happened next, their eyes widening.

"_Very good, Pet," Anko said, actually petting Kurenai on the head before removing the gag and standing in front of the still-kneeling woman. "Now then, be a good girl and please your master."_

The two Genin stood in morbid fascination for the next half hour as they watched one of their sensei's torture and force the other into pleasing her before the two women eventually stopped, kissed and made up, and then left the room, both giggling like Sasuke's fangirls. They watched the empty room on screen for several minutes before they saw Kakashi enter through a window with a canvas sack over his shoulder and take down the camera, watching the door suspiciously the entire time.

"Hinata-chan," Naruto began, his voice wavering slightly from shock. "W-was that...?"

"I ... I'm not sure, Naruto-kun." Both of them sat heavily into his couch as they tried to process exactly what they had witnessed for several minutes before Hinata broke the silence. "I think that, because of all of the titles I saw, that Kakashi has hidden cameras around Konoha." Naruto's eyed widened.

"What!" Hinata nodded as she walked over to the box and grabbed several titles she'd last been looking at and handed them to him.

"Each of these list different locations and people. The majority of them are labeled as either a bath house or as being a part of the red light district." She looked sadly at the large box and what had to be several hundred hours of broken privacy and stolen moments. Naruto looked to be about ready to pass out.

"But ... Kakashi was always a pervert but, this is ... I mean he's ... He's a bloody _pervert_! Why the hell doesn't he get a girlfriend, for the love of Kami!" Naruto was truly beginning to wonder about his involvement with Maito Gai. There was an awful lot of enthusiasm and large number of challenges between the two.

"I don't know," Hinata said, shaking her head, "but I think we should mention these to Kurenai-sensei and Anko-sensei, along with why you thought to hide it from them earlier to be safe, and see what they think we should do about it." Naruto nodded before suddenly jerking back.

"Uh, Hinata-chan, we just watched as _both _of our sensei got it on and you want us to _tell _them about it!" He asked incredulously. Hinata simply nodded.

"We don't have to tell them how much we saw, just _what_ we saw. If they were being controlled, they will realize that and then we can get this taken care of. If not," she shrugged, "they will probably just kill him." Naruto snorted and agreed.

"Fine. But I still feel like this is going to end badly." Hinata pulled him up from the couch with a groan and pushed him towards the box.

"Just pack those up again and let's go ask Kurenai-sensei. I won't feel right if we don't get it done sooner rather than later."

"You know," he said as they exited his apartment, "if he _did_ just put up hidden cameras, they are probably going to ask for a king's ransom for his books back." Hinata just giggled.

xXxXxXx

Hinata knocked on the door to her favorite sensei's home while making sure to keep a good hold on the rather fidgety Naruto. It was only a few moments later before Mitarashi Anko opened the door with a raised eyebrow. "Is there something we can help you with?"

"Yes, Anko-sensei. We would like to speak to both yourself and Kurenai-sensei if we could. Please and thank you." Anko stepped back and motioned them in, which she was mildly amused that Hinata had to practically drag the shaking Naruto in. She led them to the sitting room where Kurenai was sipping at her tea before looking up worriedly.

"Is there something wrong, Hinata?" Kurenai watched as Hinata forced Naruto to sit down on the couch and then sat next to him, holding him in place, and apparently using a lot of force to do it.

"Possibly, Kurenai-sensei. This is actually about something Naruto-kun found within Kakashi's home." She turned to Naruto and gave his arm a squeeze. "Naruto-kun?" He sighed in defeat as Anko took her seat next to Kurenai.

"While we were in Kakashi's bedroom, I noticed a cardboard box next to his television and a video tape sticking out of his VCR," he looked around as if checking for quick escape routes before continuing since Hinata had a firm grip on his arm. "Anyway. I read the tag on it and it said 'Anko Torturing Kurenai' and a time-frame. Worried he may have used his Sharingan to make you do something and then forget it," he rushed, not noticing the wide eyes and pale faces of the two women in front of him, "I took the tape and the box and sealed them as well so we would have the evidence if needed." He squirmed in his seat, watching the floor and scratched the back of his head.

"Anyway, Hinata-chan and I popped it into the VCR to see if it was as bad as we thought and... well..." he trailed off, not wanting to say the rest.

"We saw the two of you playing a bondage game," Hinata supplemented for him. "We then saw you leave and Kakashi enter through a window and take down the camera." Hinata saw both women pale when Naruto mentioned the title to the tape and felt that, while Kakashi had certainly done something wrong, both women knew exactly what was on the tape and felt assured that it was nothing more than a hidden camera after knowing what the two women did together. After a few moments of tense silence, Kurenai decided to speak.

"I ... suppose you would like an explanation of what you saw then." Kurenai and Anko both shifted uncomfortably, not really thrilled to have such a conversation with two thirteen-year olds.

"Actually," Hinata said, knowing Naruto was all but useless in his embarrassed state, "we just wanted to be sure it wasn't something that Kakashi was forcing either of you in to without your knowledge or consent. While it seems you did this on your own, he must still be held accountable for his part in it." Kurenai looked at Hinata, her expression somewhere between shock and confusion.

"You ... You don't want to know why we ...," she trailed off as she gestured between herself and Anko, who was looking at the pair in front of her critically. Hinata shook her head and raised a hand in a stalling motion.

"I thought you may have had feelings for Sarutobi Asuma, but I can understand if you and Anko-sensei have feelings towards one another, be they love or lust, and want to act on them. That isn't a problem for me, and it wouldn't be for Naruto-kun, either, if he didn't think you were going to try to kill him for having seen you both naked," she finished, obviously using her own weight to keep Naruto from escaping at this point.

Both Kurenai and Anko looked from the children in front of them to each other and back again, surprised as hell that they weren't threatening to out them for their activities or blackmailing them into doing something for them. Homosexual activity, while not exactly against the law, was highly frowned upon within Konoha, even with their pacifist and peaceful views.

"So, you aren't going to tell us that what we are doing is bad or try to blackmail us into giving you money or extra training or anything?" Anko asked, not truly believing her own or Kurenai's luck would hit at this point. They had always believed and accepted that they wouldn't be able to continue their relationship after Kurenai became a Genin instructor, but this gave them hope that blossomed in their chests as both children looked affronted at the idea and vehemently shook their heads in denial.

"No way!" Naruto shouted. "You're both great people! We'd never hurt you like that!" Hinata nearly winced when she realized that Naruto shouldn't know anything about Kurenai yet, and neither should know Anko but as a name in passing, but passed it off as Naruto and attaching to people immediately as he used to when he was this age if they showed the slightest bit of friendship to him.

"Naruto-kun is correct. You have both been wonderful so far and as our sensei, you will already be training us, so there is nothing to fear about that, and I certainly have more than enough money while Naruto-kun will be receiving his father's inheritance soon. Money is not something either of us need." She suddenly smiled dangerously at them and held up a finger. "However, this means that we won't stop you from doing anything, if you don't stop us." All three people in the room who heard Hinata dropped their jaws in shock.

"WHAT!" All three cried out, causing Hinata to giggle and roll her eyes.

"We don't be doing anything very bad for a while, but this means you have to try and be understanding of Naruto and myself enjoying a nice cuddle or kiss every now and then. Do so, and we won't begrudge you of the same thing." Anko and Kurenai both realized that she wasn't asking for much, and felt it a fair compromise and nodded.

"But," Kurenai said, glaring at Naruto who shrank back in fear, "I draw the line at pants coming off for the two of you. Do you understand?" The two teens nodded. Kurenai really wanted to say something about Hinata's bra remaining on as well, but felt that would be pushing her luck. She didn't believe either of them would truly tell anyone about her and Anko, but that wasn't to say that they couldn't change their minds and ask for something else.

"So," Anko began, beginning to believe the two for the first time, "what exactly has Kakashi got in that box of yours?"

xXxXxXx

**A/N **- This bit with Kakashi is a one-time thing. I will not bash him this badly again. That isn't to say that I won't bring up his depressing and rather creepy porn addiction, but the voyeuristic tendencies will end after this. He will be strictly Icha Icha and naughty magazines. ... And maybe a few visits to the red light district. Thank Kami for intervention, eh? Intervention called "Maito Gai"... (Shifty eyes.)


	4. Intervention, Voyeurs and Missions

**Title:** Reforging The Past

**Chapter4 – **Intervention, Voyeurs and Missions

**Ship:** Naruto/Hina, Naru/Harem, Naru/Hina/Ino/FemHaku/FemKyuu, Anko/Kurenai

**Author:** Paladeus

**Key:** "Speech", **"Demonic Speech"**, _'Thought'_, _**'Demonic Thought'**_

xXxXxXx

**A/N:** I thought I should answer a few questions the last chapter brought up.

**WARNING! - PARTIAL LEMON IN THIS CHAPTER! About halfway through. It will not be labeled as you were made aware at the onset of this story it will be heavy in lemons throughout. Also, you will find out in one of the coming chapters exactly why they are occurring. Remember, physical age is currently thirteen and it is approximately July, Chuunin exams starting in the beginning of November.**

**Challenges:** On my profile is a link to my FF (DOT) Net Forums. On those forums are challenge requests by me to you in the Naruto and Harry Potter universes. I'd greatly appreciate any views on those challenges or anyone who would like to accept them, feel free to let me know. I'd personally like to know if anyone finds them as decent plot devices or not. If you do accept a challenge, feel free to reply to the forum and let others know, preferably after you've posted the first chapter so they have something to visit and you can link to it.

**Anko and Kurenai **are a couple, yes. Both are actually bisexual, not strictly lesbian. Their histories will come soon. But, to answer the questions about Kurenai and Asuma, I tried to hint at that in the last chapter near the end. Anko and Kurenai care for each other, but I offered a social stigma that would come about for being in a relationship with another woman. So, they had agreed that, once Kurenai became a Genin squad leader, they would break it up as soon as they felt they would need to. In the original, and unchanged (Canon) time-line, this meant that she eventually found Asuma. Getting acceptance from Naruto and Hinata, they will say 'screw the rest' and decide that they truly care for each other. Basically, they were insecure about the relationship on a public level, and getting acceptance, even once, gave them the security to say that what they were doing _wasn't_ wrong. That it _wasn't_ a bad thing.

**Updates** will be roughly once a month unless I find myself writing like a man possessed.

**Recommended Story of the Chapter:** "Rise of Naruto: Shinigami's Touch" by MatrixExplosion

**xXx** – STORY – **xXx**

"So they actually passed your test, Kakashi?" Sarutobi leaned back in his chair and took a heavy drag on his pipe as Kakashi nodded, looking rather surprised himself.

"Yes, Hokage-sama. Sakura was already willing to work with Sasuke, but it was the Inuzuka who explained that none of them were strong enough before I even had them split apart for the bells. They still didn't get them," he said, proud over his win against three fresh Genin, "but they passed the real test while the Inuzuka and his puppy were tied to the post." Sarutobi nodded, pleased before actually taking in what he said.

"You actually tied up his puppy, too?" Kakashi seemed to squirm a moment before nodding quickly and his single eye glaring defiantly.

"The mutt tried to pee on me! He deserved what he got!" Sarutobi shook his head and sighed.

"Very well. I would like you to find Haruno Sakura and send her to me, please. You are to do that before anything else, Kakashi. You are dismissed." Kakashi poofed away and Sarutobi pushed a button on his desk to alert his secretary to send in the next appointment. It was only a few seconds later that the woman opened the door and led in a man who dressed eerily similar to his grandson's tutor, Ebisu. A simple black jogging suit, kunai holster, sunglasses and a forehead protector with a scroll on it, the last being the only real difference.

"Messenger Ninja Two-Two-Three-Nine, Ranna, at your service, Hokage-sama!" The ninja fisted his right hand and placed it over his heart as he bowed in one of the most traditional warrior salutes.

"Thank you for your time, Ranna-san. I actually have a slightly different message request I would like to ask of you if you are willing to listen." The spectacled man in front of the Hokage nodded.

"I have no qualms with hearing you out, Hokage-sama. Please continue." He took a seat after Sarutobi motioned for him to do so, realizing there was a short conversation coming up.

"Several years ago, we had a woman move to Konoha from Whirlpool to live with her husband. She was a Jounin from their ranks, actually. Her name was Uzumaki Kushina," the Sandaime slid a folder over that had all public and any additional classified, but safe and potentially necessary, information within it. "What I am hoping to ask of you is not only to deliver a message that cannot be written down, but to find any potential living relatives of this woman." Ranna looked through the folder for a few moments, looking at locations and names before looking back at Sarutobi.

"I believe I understand, but this is an unorthodox request. Should I, in fact, find any remaining Uzumaki, what is my mission supposed to be from this point? We do not locate people simply to be killed at a later date." The aged Hokage immediately shook his head.

"No, no. There is nothing like that. You see, as I stated, she moved here to live with her husband. As you most probably know, it was just over eleven years ago that Iwa destroyed Whirlpool and forced them to disband, killing many of the Uzumaki clan along with them. Kushina had a child twelve years ago. Unfortunately, the night of the Kyuubi attack, she died during childbirth, and her husband died during the attack while fighting off the beast." Ranna nodded and double-checked the folder to be sure the information he had already committed to memory as accurate.

"So, this is actually to see if the child has any remaining family, then, since you cannot be sure of any are still alive to deliver the message itself to, and then deliver it if any are found?"

"Correct. I recently learned that I hadn't been doing as much as I could have for the boy, and I am hoping I can make amends by using my authority for something worth while." He slid over two fresh scrolls, one with the Leaf emblem and the other with Sarutobi's personal seal.

"The Leaf emblem holds a false message to a person simply known as 'Joudan Yume' who is a roaming healer in case it becomes necessary to alert anyone to your mission," he held up a hand to silence the shinobi in front of him. "I know you and your brethren hold a great respect and pride amongst anyone who uses your services for doing absolutely everything in your power to never fail, and that none of you have failed yet, but this is merely a request in asking for any Uzumaki to alert us to their existence and that we have an orphaned Uzumaki we would like to let know he has a family. There is no need to have any more risk involved than necessary." It took a moment, but Ranna could see what was really being offered. Most often, a messenger ninja's services were only used for international documents and other such important services. As such, they were high profile targets. That was one of the reasons they were able to charge so much for their services, and why no one argued their prices with them. They got their money's worth, guaranteed. With this, even if the enemy took his scroll, which was an expected item to have with their services, he needed only to put up enough of a fight before 'losing' his scroll.

"I see what you mean, Hokage-sama. Your value of our life in this endeavor is appreciated and will be remembered. If I may," he gestured to the second scroll. "What is that one?"

"That, is what will really give you your payment for your services. This is a request of the Sarutobi clan, not the Hokage of Konoha. As this is the case, you may only speak to myself, or my son, Asuma, for the resolution of this mission. That scroll is to be shown to only a Sarutobi or an Uzumaki. It is a blood seal, so only one of those two lines can open it. It details exactly what I'm hoping to achieve because of all of this. I know I said that the message couldn't be written down, but this isn't the same part I wish to deliver. Kushina and her husband had several enemies, I am afraid, hence the request being as odd as it is. As such, you will be paid four times your usual fee for such services." Ranna went wide-eyed as he realized how much he was getting. This was the equivalent of collecting the bounty on one of the most infamous nuke-nin still alive!

"Ho-Hokage-sama! I don't know what to say!" Sarutobi chuckled.

"Just say 'I accept' and I am sure we can both be happy about our decisions." As Ranna did that very thing, Sarutobi recognized his secretary flare her chakra a moment to let him know he had another visitor.

"Should I make contact with any Uzumaki, I give them the scroll you have handed me and await to see if they have any instructions, yes?" Sarutobi nodded.

"That would be it, yes." Ranna bowed in the more traditional method this time and left, allowing the pink-haired Haruno Sakura to come in.

"Ah, Sakura-san. Please, sit down." Sakura did as commanded, quite obviously nervous.

"Thank you, Hokage-sama." Sarutobi waved off her formality as he got down to business.

"No need for the formalities. This is going to be an interesting conversation and I want us both to be comfortable. Also," he said as he noticed her nervousness spike, "you have done nothing wrong and are in no trouble." Put mostly at ease, Sakura scrunched up her face.

"Then, if I may ask, why have you called me here, Hokage-sama?" Mentally, he sighed. Why couldn't more people treat him like Naruto did when he asked for no formalities?

"First, I must get your assurances that what we discuss in this room will never be spoken to anyone other than the two of us, and _only_ when I call you in here to discuss it outside of an immediate emergency. Failure to do so will be considered treason and immediately followed by execution," he told her, his voice grim. He didn't want to be so serious, or to start things off this way, but he needed to her to know exactly how severe secrecy would be in this case.

"You have the right to choose not to hear me out, and if you do, you can leave now and we will not discuss this again. Regardless of what you choose, you will never speak of this meeting to anyone. If you agree to the mission I wish to give you, or not, once you hear it, you have the choice to decline, the previous rules still applying. Do you accept?" After waiting a few moments of letting that sink in and letting the girl's wide eyes stare at him long enough without blinking, he decided to see if he fried her brain. "Sakura-san?"

"What?" She shook her head a moment before blinking rapidly. "I can hear you out and still decline the mission, but I won't be able to tell anyone about any of this no matter what? Correct?" Sarutobi nodded.

"Okay. I'll hear you out, I suppose."

"Very well. As of this moment, anything discussed will get you killed if you speak about it to anyone. Now, I am aware you hold feelings for Uchiha Sasuke and that you are a part of his Genin squad, Number Seven, and passed your evaluation today. Are these facts correct?" Blushing brightly at being called on her crush, she nodded.

"Yes," she squeaked.

"I am going to be frank with you, Haruno-san. Many of us in power are worried about the boy's mental health. Do not interrupt," he commanded firmly as he saw her open her mouth, probably to defend the boy's overly large pride. "Now, during the Uchiha massacre that night, young Sasuke returned home just in time to witness his older brother, the very same brother Sasuke looked up to more than anyone else, murder his parents," He continued through, not allowing her to ask questions as her eyes widened horribly and she paled. "Itachi used a very vile technique on Sasuke that night. It was one of the world's most powerful genjutsu. It made Sasuke watch as Itachi killed his parents, and the rest of the Uchiha clan, repeatedly for seventy-two hours straight."

"Sweet Kami," Sakura whispered, never having heard the actual story from anyone before. Everyone had known that Sasuke was the lone survivor and that he had confronted his brother that night and survived, but no one her age knew this much.

"It was after that that the sweet, caring Sasuke died and he became the boy you know him to be today." Gulping, Sakura looked at her feet as she spoke.

"Why ... why are you telling me this?" In truth, Sarutobi heard what Naruto had told him about Sakura being the one that had wormed her way into his heart. Naruto said he had learned after the fact that she was nearly able to get him to stay in Konoha and not defect to Orochimaru. He was hoping to strengthen that very bond and possibly forestall such a thing from happening again. He just couldn't tell her this.

"To be honest, it is because we feel he needs something to live for," he said, gauging her reaction carefully. "Or perhaps ... some_one_." She looked up to him so quickly he was worried her neck would snap and her eyes widened to almost comical proportions.

"S-s-s-some _one_! You mean..." Sarutobi nodded as Sakura trailed off and a blush flushed over her cheeks.

"What I propose is to guarantee that Kakashi works extensively on team building exercises and makes sure that you and Sasuke spend a moderate amount of time together," he said, leaning back. He hated to put a girl into this situation in the best of circumstances. And these were far from even good ones. But she was a ninja, and this was something that came with the job description.

They were also extremely young, which was one of the few things that also eased his mind, as nothing serious was likely to develop for some time, even with hormones kicking in at such ages. The Uchiha's cold attitude would keep her distanced for a while also. After all, the Chuunin exams were only seven months away that Konoha would host them. The exams coming up in a month were being hosted in Iwa, and they didn't want to risk Konoha Genin in such an area without decent combat experience, so only the older teams were allowed in. Iwa held grudges far too strongly. There were simply too many accidents last time for them all to have been merely coincidence.

"I will also have Kakashi under orders to allow the two of you to share tents, since you would be the only female and need to share with one of the team under most conditions anyway, and make sure that, in general, you are near each other often enough to help you build such bonds, perhaps even team building exercises as sleep overs and such." He watched as she blushed brightly before paling drastically.

"Er, do I ... Kiba-san..." she drifted off, but her fears were certainly clear to the aging Hokage.

"No, no. Friendships would be nice, yes, but I only ask you to get close to form a strong bond with Uchiha-san." Seeing that a little more was needed, he decided to hint at the true purpose, but lead her another direction. "You see, right now, Sasuke's desire in life is to kill his older brother to avenge his parents and clan. While we certainly have the power to offer him with our training regimens, other villages, if given the opportunity, would offer him their secrets if he defected, whether they truly give them to him or not. We cannot just give abilities and techniques without a strong foundation, but the draw of power is strong, and we fear Uchiha-san may not be able to resist such temptation." Sakura shook her head.

"Sasuke-kun would never betray the village! I'm sure he would do the right thing!" Sarutobi sighed mentally again, knowing that he wouldn't. But he couldn't tell her that.

"It isn't that we don't believe in him. But we have psychoanalysts who observe how people behave and interact and, quite frankly, Sasuke has nothing to live for right now," he said bluntly. "He has absolutely nothing fundamental to tie him to Konoha and her people. He wants to revive his clan, yes, but he wishes to kill his brother first and foremost and a clan can be revived anywhere. He has even stated directly that his goals are to kill his older brother, Itachi, and _then_ start to revive his clan. Until then, he will do whatever it takes to make his goals a reality. He is a driven man," he said, deciding to play to Sakura's fangirl status. "Sasuke will not allow anything to stop him to his path to his goals in life. While we agree to what needs to be done, he does not have the wisdom that age brings with it, or the intricacies of politics that other villages may use. Do you understand?" Nodding, Sakura said she did.

"Yes. Everyone is fallible, after all," she said, staring into space. "Other villages could lie to him and promise him things but not give them. Maybe even promise more and more techniques if he impregnates women in their village."

"Exactly," he said, relieved to have any kind of out. He'd almost forgotten that, even though she was a fangirl, she was a smart fangirl, who would still look beyond getting close to the boy. "And we must protect Sasuke when we can."

"You're right," Sakura agreed. They began to discuss exactly what her goals entailed and when they would start. Through it all, Sarutobi had a nagging feeling that he had forgotten some part of this plan, but thought it through twice again as he spoke with Sakura to be sure he had it all and chalked it up to his unease at using such young children for such games, even if building these strengthened bonds would be needed to keep the boy's loyalty against a worse enemy. It wouldn't be until months later that he would remember Hinata had told him in a cavalier and off-hand manner that Sasuke had killed Sakura once already.

xXxXxXx

"Kami-sama," Anko whispered after viewing the contents of the cardboard box from Kakashi's bedroom with the others. She and the others had just viewed a few seconds of the fifteenth video tape to find they had a very large number of kunoichi caught in compromising positions with their lovers or in the bath houses. "He's got so much!"

"Several of these are of kunoichi from the ANBU unit's bathing hall!" Kurenai had her lap full of tapes she had sorted into that very category. "That place is supposed to be scanned daily for things like this!"

"I've got some foreign officials, standard populace females and a few more of you and Anko-sensei," Naruto said. He had a stack of black tapes on either side of him. "I've also got a sealing scroll with pictures that seemed to have been taken from previous recordings that he saved at proper times." He held up the rolled parchment for emphasis, an annoyed expression on his face. Anko and Kurenai had been so embarrassed by the fact that Naruto and Hinata had seen them doing very explicit things on tape that they hadn't once considered telling the two of them not to help sorting Kakashi's porn archive. And both of them acting like seeing pictures of sex and debauchery of large numbers of people, several of which being people they knew, that the oddities hadn't even seemed too obvious.

"For the kunoichi alone, we could have him killed by the end of the day if it was leaked out we got these from his apartment." Hinata dumped a handful of tapes that were all similar to those already called out back into the box in disgust. "I say we hold onto them as leverage and make him take down his cameras and change his lifestyle at the very least."

"Agreed," Kurenai said, putting her own tapes into the box. "But we won't be leaving it at that." Interested, Anko looked at her lover and raised an eyebrow.

"What have you got in mind?" Kurenai smiled a smirk that Anko saw nearly every day in the mirror.

"We have got the village's number one, hyper-active, unpredictable, prankmaster ninja! We release him!" Hinata giggled madly as Anko howled in laughter. Naruto himself grinned and decided Kurenai was going to get something special for her birthday. He would just have to figure out when it actually was.

xXxXxXx

It was six days later when Kakashi walked into Moriki Barbecue with narrowed eyes as he was commanded in the ransom note. Kakashi had found that his collection of hidden camera tapes had been taken as well, and if the same people who took his books took those tapes, he knew he would be in serious trouble. He looked about as soon as he entered the restaurant carefully. Aside from a couple of people looking at him as he entered as they normally did, no one showed any particular interest in him. Before he could classify each of those eating, a bubbly blonde waitress bounded up to him, catching his attention.

"Welcome to Moriki's! Will it just be you today?" Kakashi's attention was drawn to the girl's bouncing breasts as she hopped very lightly and carefully in place.

"Yes, it is." The blonde smiled brightly and turned after beckoning him to follow. Kakashi almost forgot why he was there when he saw the girl's tight pants squeezing what had to be the most perfect bum he had ever seen! It was without conscious thought that he followed the swaying fleshy globes.

"My name is Naruko," she said, motioning him into the booth and handing him a menu, "and I'll be your server today. What would you like to drink?" Naruko asked as she clasped her hands together at her waist, squeezing her impressive bust lightly from the sides to keep Kakashi's focus from wandering or letting him get too much time to think.

"Water for now, please," Kakashi said, being jerked out of his naughty thoughts by her question. Naruko nodded with a bright smile and light blush.

"I'll be back in a few moments." She turned to leave and Kakashi stared at her rounded bum as she walked away, fighting against the urge to chase her down and bite her left cheek.

_'I bet that thing would bounce right back, too. Grrr!'_ He growled in his mind as he made a biting motion towards the unaware girl as she disappeared behind a door.

The other members of Team Eight and their two sensei watched Naruko as she walked into the kitchen, her smile turn into a look of sheer horror and make a beeline towards the sinks where she turned on the hot water and began scrubbing herself mercilessly.

"Unclean! Unclean!" Ino and Hinata blinked rapidly as they saw Naruko's skin turn pink from the scalding water bath and furious scrubbing. Anko grunted in amusement.

"Get over it, kid. We've been working on this for the past five days! You knew he was gonna leer!" Naruko glared at the grinning woman.

"Whatever. Just get the damned laxatives ready! He's not getting away from this without a few problems!" The four real women in front of Naruto laughed evilly. They had decided to bring Ino in on what they found in Kakashi's home, without mentioning Anko or Kurenai's involvement for now, more for her safety than anything. They didn't want to let too many people find out about what they had found, as it would damage his own reputation and more importantly, that of Konoha, and simply make a good many people unnecessarily angry, but they didn't want her to be uninformed in case the pervert advanced from being a voyeur.

It was a standard method of progress with sexual predators. They could make all the excuses they wanted, but no matter how they tried to explain what they were seeing, he was one, clear and simple. And he wasn't making any apparent plans to get a real girlfriend, so they had no choice but to look at sexual predators in the past. And they always became worse and worse unless something was done to take care of it. It was for that reason that they felt it was best to warn Ino to Kakashi's situation. That, and it allowed them to feed him enough laxative to keep him busy from spying on too many more of Konoha's female populace.

"Got them all ready," Ino said, extremely proud of herself. She was the one to supply them with horse laxative, something usually restricted due to its strong composition. Naruko smiled sadistically and offered a freshly filled glass of water to Ino to pour the unassuming powder into. Once done, it dissolved almost immediately.

"Thanks, Ino-chan." Naruko said with a naturally flirtatious smile before turning to Hinata. "Hinata-chan, save a couple pints of meat drippings, alright?" Obviously confused, but trusting him, she nodded.

"Alright Naruto," Kurenai said with a mostly hidden grin. "Get going. Speedy service and all that." Naruko took a shuddering breath and mentally steeled herself before plastering her fake grin back on and delivering Kakashi his water. Meanwhile, Kurenai turned to Anko with a thoughtful expression on her face.

"So, tell me again why we're using Naruto and his Oiroke no jutsu to pull this off? As it is, I'm surprised he has such great control for the henge not to be detected." Anko grinned fiendishly.

"Because he saw our tape," she said quietly so the other two, currently working on orders couldn't hear. Kurenai snickered softly.

"Oh. You are baaaad." Anko was about to retort when Naruko returned with a slip of paper.

"Beef yakatori, rare, with a side of rice and egg." Anko clapped quickly, very pleased.

"Excellent! That won't take but a couple of minutes! We can be out of here right after!" They quickly got to work on the order, both Hinata and Ino working on it to get it out quickly and then plated the serving platter with a note penned for Kakashi while Naruko worked the tables so she was not as obvious to Kakashi as an accomplice. Once finished, Naruko walked out of the kitchen with a real grin this time. She walked over to Kakashi and set the platter on the corner of the table, removing each item and setting them next to the pervert leering at her chest until she got to the last item, finding the letter. She feigned surprise at seeing it and looked towards the kitchens before back at the note.

"Um, are you Kakashi?" Naruko asked, pointing at the note. "If so, it seems this is addressed to you." She handed him the note and stepped back, pretending to be nervous and unsure. "I ... I'll be back soon if you need anything." Kakashi watched the girl walking away, fooled by Naruto's acting skills. Or her bum, but either way, he didn't suspect her.

_Kakashi,_

_Well, we must say. We found so much more than simply your Icha Icha collection (and so many that were signed by the author at that!) You have hidden video footage of political figureheads, which could cause more than just a couple of wars, video of ANBU kunoichi and simply random women from around town. Tsk Tsk, Kakashi._

_Our original plan was to ransom your Icha Icha collection for jutsu. However, we now realize you have a serious problem. The fallout that would result if any of this were to come out would be disastrous, for you and for Konoha both. You probably would not survive the day if the kunoichi find out what you have done, and Konoha not much longer as the wife of our current Daimyo is on one of these little tapes. So, we will get the jutsu later. But for now, it's time for an intervention. _

_Unless you want these tapes to go to the Hokage, you will go to Maito Gai and tell him what you have done and what we are ordering of you, you may even show this letter if you wish, and ask him for help to stop you from this destructive path and you shall stay on any correctional plan he gives you for at least five months. While he has no current knowledge of this, we know him quite well. We will find out if you tell him about this, and whether or not you tell him the truth. You will accept his help for five months, no matter what he suggests, or we go to the Hokage. You know what will happen if we are forced to take that step. You will lose your team, your ninja status and quite possibly your life for what you have done, especially when you consider the number of pissed off ANBU kunoichi, yes? _

_You have until tomorrow, noon, to comply or you force our hand._

Kakashi's visible eye was as round as it could possibly go and his hands were shaking horribly. It was only years of service at his job that kept him from relieving himself in the booth where he sat. Whoever these _people_, he noted it was plural, were, they had him by the danglies and were squeezing. Oh, it wasn't that he was frightened about them going to the Hokage and warning him of his unlawful exploits.

No, what frightened him and was leading to his panic attack was that he had to go to Gai for advice and not only admit to what he had done, but follow his advice after learning about it for five whole months! Did these people not know what kind of monster Gai was! He thought everything could be fixed with extreme physical discomfort and a horrible fashion sense!

With as much dignity as he could muster, Kakashi began eating his barbecue, not tasting a thing. And he was getting these awful cramps in his abdomen! This just was not his day.

As soon as Naruko arrived back in the kitchen, her infectious grin caught on to the rest as she giggled and jerked her thumb over her shoulder where they could see through the closing entrance where the man was clearly shaken to the core and possibly regretting his actions of the past near decade. They did not really think too highly of the latter, as it was not likely, but they could hope.

"Well," Kurenai said, "hopefully Gai can turn Kakashi around and make him stop all of this crap." The three Genin nodded in agreement with her. Naruto, while not exactly respecting the man himself, did hold a few bonds from his previous life. The man may not have been much of a sensei, but he did go out of his way on occasion to try and help Naruto out. He brought him fruit and vegetable baskets sometimes, gave him advice on his chakra, even if he didn't take the time to sit there and instruct him about it and protected them when he could have allowed them all to die. Hinata felt somewhat similar, though her thoughts were more humanitarian than friendly. Ino simply felt like he was a pervert as most men were and, while she didn't really know Gai, everyone else's assurances that he could reform Kakashi gave her hope he would stop being the pervert he currently was.

For the next week and a half, Kurenai worked with them on physical fitness and then jutsu in the mornings with one or two D-rank missions in between while Anko worked with them in the afternoons on the intricacies of infiltration, assassination and espionage, each playing assistant when the other was in her element. It allowed them an effective way to wake up in the mornings and cool down in the evenings since it was a known fact that information learned was retained better when learned before going to bed. And Ino absolutely loved Anko's flowing form of taijutsu and her quick strikes. A long series of stretches, performed with Hinata who wanted to maintain her flexibility before she showed up in the mornings and as they were discussing their topics before going home or before bed, would soon have her limber enough to perform some of the more advanced techniques if she followed the program diligently.

While they learned to loathe the feudal lord's cat Tora, Anko made things more interesting by laying out in wait to ambush them when they got close enough. And she never used the same tactics, making things difficult for the trio, even though two were used to looking out for such things. Anko was a true master of deception and stealth and she used those abilities to her benefit to conceal herself and plant traps for them, which was a far cry from what the two time-traveling Genin were used to in the form of ambushes from enemies who relied more on numbers than any real talent. And Anko had every intention of bringing in some of her ANBU friends once they got adept with just her or her and Kurenai.

The only real thing that Naruto and Hinata failed to plan for when they decided to hide their abilities was that neither could truly hide certain reactions from Jounin who were experienced in gauging their opponents' strengths and weaknesses and watching their surroundings. Handseals that were partially completed before switching to lower-powered jutsu, seamlessly switching to more advanced taijutsu forms and accidentally performing frequented jutsu without the full series of handseals in such ways that only came with practiced ease and familiarity were being noticed more and more, and Anko and Kurenai were beginning to feel they would need answers soon.

xXxXxXx

"Tsume-chan, have you found anything?" Karen stepped into the clearing in the forest near their village and watched the younger woman shake her head with a frown.

"Not a thing. Jin and Yamcha have a tendency to go out into the forests, but this is ridiculous! It's nearly nightfall!" The two women began their trek back into Kensei's village limits to see if the children returned home since it was getting to be too dark to find and track any signs properly.

"If they aren't back when we return to the village, I'll send Joga to Konoha to hire a team of trackers. It has already been near a full day since anyone has seen those boys." Karen and Tsume both chuckled, knowing the two boys loved playing ninja in the forest after their chores were done, but both were equally worried about the two. They had never been gone for more than a few hours at most and almost always stayed within sight of the village itself. Several minutes later, they broke through the foliage and saw their husbands and older sons coming in from the fields so Karen went directly to her husband.

"Joga, have you seen Jin or Yamcha?" The large man frowned and shook his head and responded, his baritone voice rumbling in response.

"Not since breakfast, Love. Is anything wrong?" Tsume came over with her eldest, Juntou.

"No one has seen them, Karen-chan. I've had Juntou and his friends looking for them for the past two hours in town and they haven't seen them either." Joga sighed deeply and nodded his head.

"Don't worry. Juntou and I will head out to Konoha and get a tracker. We'll take the horses and should be back before tomorrow night. They may be young, but they know how to hide themselves to keep themselves safe from predators." Both women agreed and hugged the heavily-muscled man and helped him prepare while Juntou gathered some food for them to eat on the way since they would be missing dinner.

"Be sure to send out a search party at first light," he told them as he and Juntou saddled up on the horses, "and light a couple of torches at the edge of the forest in case they are able to see the light. We don't want them out there any longer than necessary." The women nodded and watched forlornly as the two men left at a canter.

xXxXxXx

Naruto, Hinata and Ino sat lazily against a log while Anko was using Kurenai to demonstrate a couple of different grappling techniques used for immediate kills when coming up behind their opponents with the least amount of liquid evidence splattered everywhere while Kurenai explained how one should attempt to move if they found themselves caught in those same techniques in hopes of being able to survive such an encounter. The survival rates for most were very slim, but possible if you could recognize what was happening fast enough.

Ino had just finished her assigned stretches and had pulled her hair out of its customary ponytail and was running her fingers through it to try and get rid of the feeling of sweat and grit out of it while Naruto and Hinata were lounging back and resting against each other as Anko was finishing her lesson.

"Now, Ino. Give me an example of who you would want to use one of these neck breaking techniques on and why," Anko commanded, seeing the girl with her eyes closed and stroking her hair.

"Guards who you may want to move out of the way so potential patrols don't find the blood and get riled up and anyone you need to take out silently since most methods of execution leave the target capable of yelling out and warning others," Ino replied in a clear and sure voice and without opening her eyes. She was not sure if she would really have what it took to kill as of yet, but in thanks to her family's clan techniques, her father spoke to her quite often about the types of missions their family had a tendency to get. Since they were used so often in torture and interrogation, assassination was really a step down in the sadism factor. It was far faster and there was less pleading for mercy.

Ino really had mixed feelings about the whole thing. Part of her was disgusted with what she knew was going to be expected of her in being on the team, but it was what she had been trained to do, was being trained to do and her father had been so proud of her when she told him how her team was going to be a specialized force, according to her two sensei, and that she would be getting so much additional training. Really, it was just a kinder fate than what her father did to his enemies with Morino Ibiki and what they had expected she would end up getting drafted to do. Still, her father made sure she knew what was to be expected of her, and promised that he would not be the slightest bit disappointed if she decided to call it quits.

"Very good, Ino. Naruto, can you give me another?" Naruto pondered for a moment before shrugging.

"If we use that second one you mentioned for those without muscled necks, then it would only show a single line across the person's neck and we can fake a suicide by hanging as long as we're quick about the evidence and pay attention to details like a stool to stand on and such." Anko raised her eyebrows. That was indeed one of the primary uses, but attention and care to the details was something that usually had to be drilled into those learning it.

"Excellent, Naruto. Hinata? What about you? Do you have an idea?" Hinata thought for a moment, her knowledge from Tsunade coming to the forefront of her mind.

"Well, the first one you showed us pops the vertebrae and causes the heart to stop beating in the worst cases and paralysis in the best. Anyone with minor medical knowledge could repair the damage and it would then look like a simple heart attack, especially if the person took the time to heal the broken blood vessels to stop the bruising," she shrugged, imitating Naruto. "If they have the control, they could mask the chakra they used and even a med-nin wouldn't be able to recognize it unless they were looking for it." At this point, both Kurenai and Anko were staring at the seemingly sadistic girl in front of them with wide eyes and mouths hanging open.

"How the hell did you know that!" Anko spluttered. "I only know about things like that because of some of my friends in Black Ops that learn those techniques! People don't even bring that method up except in certain circles!" Her assassination training had been done by an S-class criminal known as Orochimaru and he had always been more about results rather than finesse and subtlety. Hinata smiled and poked her thumb towards Naruto.

"I've always been interested in healing and Naruto-kun has a tendency to train himself to near exhaustion, so I've got some practice in the medical field and I noticed the link when I was studying." She brought one leg up to her chest and rested her chin on her knee. "Those chakra scalpels would be a great addition to my Jyuuken fighting style, but I want to wait to try them out with it." Aside from Naruto who smiled proudly at Hinata, the other three surrounding her gaped. Ino didn't really know much about the chakra scalpels, but did know that the Jyuuken was already painful from sparring with her. However, her description of how one could kill and then make it look like they had not been killed was enough to catch her attention.

"Yes, well," Kurenai began gently. "It's good to know we'll have a resident medic on the team." Naruto wrapped an arm around Hinata's shoulders and gave her a proud hug while she smiled brightly. "I'm sure we'll need your services with Naruto on the team."

"Hey!" Kurenai continued as if Naruto had not interrupted her.

"Maybe we can see about sending you to the hospital to increase your skills," she mused. Hinata's eyes slightly widened at the idea. She had spent a little under two years with Tsunade and, while she had yet to reach the same level of proficiency Sakura had been before her death, her skill would be enough to alert the staff at the hospital that she knew more than she could have learned on her own.

"Perhaps later, but for now, I'm learning at a nice pace and it isn't interfering with my other training." Anko and Kurenai nodded. It was a good plan, though a little suspicious. Kurenai had known that she wanted to study medicine for years now and would normally have jumped at the idea, though her thoughts about Hinata had been changing drastically of late.

"No problem. We're learning a lot in a short amount of time, so we don't want to overload this early on." Anko and Kurenai looked at each other in silent communication for any other knowledge to impart. "Well, we seem to have gone over everything we wanted for tonight, so we'll see you tomorrow morning, bright and early at six." Nods all around, they split ways, Anko and Kurenai going to the latter's home for the evening and Ino to her own.

Naruto leaned back against the fallen log and looked at the sky where the stars were twinkling away as Hinata snuggled up against his side. Each night after everyone left, they would sit together and talk, just not about anything related to their time travel.

"How much longer until she wakes up, do you think," Hinata asked, running her hand over Naruto's stomach under his shirt to show who she meant. Naruto shook while trying to hold his laughter in from the tickling sensations.

"Ngt! I'm not sure. Sh-she normally snores when she s-sleeps but isn't." He quickly grabbed her wrists when he failed to hold his laughter in and twisted so he was holding them over her head and he was straddling her waist after putting her on her back. "Now be good, Tenshi-chan," he whispered nibbling her earlobe, feeling playful and wanting to tease her. Giggling, she allowed his ministrations for a few seconds before she kicked her leg up and flipped him over onto his back and rolled backwards so she was on top of the shocked Naruto this time around.

"I don't want to be good tonight, Naruto-kun," she growled out.

xXxXxXx

Ino was a little over a hundred yards from the training grounds when she realized she had left her ponytail holder on the ground where she had been sitting. Letting out a frustrated grunt, she turned and rushed back through the trees and came upon Naruto on top of Hinata and holding her down. Just before she let the kunai she had drawn fly for Naruto apparently taking advantage of Hinata, she saw Hinata flip him over and speak.

"I don't want to be good tonight, Naruto-kun." Bug-eyed, Ino watched Hinata kiss Naruto on the mouth hard for several seconds before coming up for air and allowing Naruto to nibble repeatedly on her neck. In surprise, Ino shifted herself slightly so she was looking through the branches of the tree she was in and watched Naruto put his hands under her shirt and caress Hinata's back, causing Hinata to make a half growl, half moan in the back of her throat.

"Tenshi-chan," Naruto sat up, causing Hinata to wrap her legs around his midsection so she could stay on his lap. She tilted her head back and gasped when his tongue hit a sensitive bit of flesh. Hinata rocked back in Naruto's lap, pulling his upper body with her and felt his arousal pressing against her. With a wicked smile playing over her face, she rolled her hips right over him, causing him to moan out.

"Are you excited, Naruto-kun?" She asked, pulling back slightly. In response, he looked into her eyes, letting her see them covered in a haze of desire as he pulled his hands out from under the back of her shirt and grabbed her hips to thrust himself into her hard.

"You know I am," he said as he pulled her into him. "You do this to me." She giggled and kissed him passionately before putting her right hand on his shoulder and swinging herself around him so that he sat with his back to her and between her legs so one was on either side of him.

"Yes," she said breathlessly into his ear, Ino barely able to hear, "but I'm not going to be a good girl tonight, am I?" As she spoke, her arms that were wrapped around his shoulders loosened and her right hand drifted lower until she could firmly grasp his erection, causing him to gasp.

"Hinata-chan, are you sure you want to go this far?" He turned his head to the side a bit to see her out of the corner of his eye. "I won't be disappointed or upset," he whispered. "I promise." Hinata smiled and kissed him on the cheek before giving his arousal a firm squeeze and gentle stroke. There was an intense desire within her to be with him and let him take her. It had been there since they split the seal and getting stronger, but she did not want to go quite that far yet. This, however, would certainly be adequate for now.

"I do, Naruto-kun," she said, unzipping his pants and pulling him out. "And I promise," she said as she grasped him firmly again, "that you will be screaming my name by the time we are finished." Naruto's eyes widened as Hinata began to stroke him with a light grip, going slowly as she had yet to actually do this before, but slowly speeding up and pulling him against her with her other arm and needing to feel him close to her.

In the branches above them, Ino was breathing heavily and staring wide-eyed at the two below her. A part of her was disgusted in the fact that she was watching Hinata and Naruto doing this, but a another, larger, part of her was enjoying what she was seeing with her eyes locked onto Naruto's erection. Unnoticed by her, her traitorous hands were running over her stomach, treading dangerously close to her chest.

Hinata's right hand was stroking Naruto's dick faster yet while he tried and failed to hold in little moans and control his breathing. She delighted in hearing him breathe faster and hearing the desperate moans when he failed to hold them in. She moved her left hand to him and began stroking him slowly with it while her right continued its current speed. But she wanted more, so she breathed heavily into his ear so he could hear her and added an extra touch.

"Don't hold back, Naruto-kun," she said lowly. "I want to see you finish." He let out a whimper as she spoke and her thumb flashed over the head of his cock. She used her left hand to continue stroking him as she pulled her right hand to her mouth and licked it, only to grasp him again, this time her hand sliding over his slickened skin.

"Hinata-ch-chan." Naruto closed his eyes as he felt himself nearing his climax. He was far too unused to this to hold out for much longer. Unconsciously, his hands sought her legs and he squeezed them, getting them to tighten at his sides as he leaned his head back and gave up holding back. He began to moan her name repeatedly amidst unintelligible words. The moment she noticed Naruto begin to breathe irregularly and moan in bursts, she decided he was close, so she leaned forward again to speak into his ear.

"Cum for me Naruto-kun," she growled. "Let me hear you." Naruto gasped as she finished speaking. Hinata talking dirty to him was simply too much and it threw him over the edge. With a cry, he yelled her name through clenched teeth and he erupted several feet in front of him as he came several times. Hinata watching with a pleased smile on her face before she noticed a few drops landed on her hand. Curious, she lifted her hand to her face and licked her fingers delicately. The taste was not exactly pleasant, but it wasn't bad, either.

"That was incredible, Hinata-chan. Thank you." Hinata smiled and kissed him as he turned to look at her.

"You're welcome, Naruto-kun." Naruto smirked and was suddenly behind her, their positions switched and before she realized what he was doing, he had his lips on her neck and a hand over her breasts, pinching her nipples causing her to let out a high pitched moan.

"All you have to do is say 'stop'," he said into her ear as his right hand slid lower. The desire she had been feeling for the past week and a half intensified greatly and she shook her head vehemently. There was no way she would be able to say no to this now.

"No. I want this," she said before moaning heavily. He had taken his left hand and slid it under her shirt and up to her breasts again, this time without the interference of her shirt. In the branches, Ino was leaning up against the trunk of the tree with one hand under her own shirt, pinching her nipples fiercely and the other under her panties, rubbing herself furiously, using every ounce of self-control to keep from moaning out loud and trying to mock Naruto's movements.

Carefully, Naruto pulled Hinata backwards so that she was laying over his stomach, still on her back and flicked his wrist to push her pants down. She gasped as the night air touched her heated skin over her soaked panties. Naruto left her laying over top of him as he switched breasts in his left hand, and used his right hand to caress her heated core. Wantonly, she raised her hips to try and intensify his touch, only to have him follow her movements. Several moments of caressing her pouted nether lips later and he finally slid his hand under her panties, receiving a gentle moan from her as she used a hand over either breast he wasn't performing his own magic on.

He explored her soaked crevice, gently probing the sides and running a finger up and down as he paid attention to her movements when he accidentally went higher than he wanted as she lowered her hips and he hit a firm nub, causing her to thrust herself up and scream out in in pleasure.

"Naruto-kun! There! Again, touch that again!" He did as he was ordered and was rewarded with heavy moaning as gasping as she bucked on top of him slowly. Riding the high of the sensations coming from him, she looked down to see his hand stroking her folds, adding another aspect of pleasure as she watched him doing that to her. She reached an arm back and grabbed the hair on the back of Naruto's head as he bit her on the neck and then licked it gently to soothe it. Slowly and quietly, she drew out his name as he pleasured her, bringing him back to a strong arousal. Their positions together making it come between her legs and visible over her toned stomach.

Feeling the protuberance, she looked down again and saw the head of his dick when she lowered herself. Overcome in her aroused state, she lowered herself a few inches so she could feel herself sliding his shaft over her slickened flesh, adding a whole new dimension to both of them. As he continued his assault on her clit, she used her free hand to grab him and pull him harder into her, her fingers so slick from her own juices she was unwittingly masturbating him with them again as well as her slickened folds.

For several minutes, they stroked and caressed each other, panting and moaning as they pleased one another, getting louder and closer to their climaxes as they moaned each other's names. Eventually, Naruto deciding to treat the firm little nub he had found the same as he was treating one of her nipples and pinched it lightly while rolling it gently between his fingers, causing Hinata to thrust her hips up and throw her head back as she screamed his name, covering his hand and dick in her fluids. The added wetness and that scream brought him over the edge quickly and he came into the air before it came back down and landed on Hinata's exposed stomach. Not wanting to get any on her clothes, she pointed him forward slightly and he shot into the grass again while, unknown to the two of them, Ino had raised her arm and bit into her forearm to hide her own climax.

The two breathed heavily for a few moments before Hinata used a sweat cloth from her pouch to wipe up Naruto's mess and then lay herself next to him and grab him in a hug as he put himself back into his pants. "Thank you, Naruto-kun. I needed that," she murmured to him. He lazily leaned towards her and gave her a kiss.

"I know what you mean. That was really nice." He stroked her hair lightly as they rested for a few moments before he chuckled. "Why do you think we can train for hours before really getting tired, but this all but wore us out?" Hinata giggled.

"I suppose anything worth doing is worth doing well, yes?" He grinned at her as he helped her to her feet.

"Practice makes perfect." She giggled again as he walked her home. After she was sure they were good and gone, Ino grabbed her ponytail holder and rushed back home red-faced. All three of them having extremely good dreams that night.

xXxXxXx

The next morning, after Ino assured them that her red face had nothing to do with any form of illness when Naruto asked, Team Eight entered the Hokage's office and stood at attention. "Team Eight reporting for assignment, Hokage-sama," Kurenai said.

"Ah, just the team I was waiting for. And you're earlier than usual, good." Each member looked at him in confusion while he looked for a particular scroll on his desk. "Now, there were two men who came in earlier today requested a tracking team to find two boys who have become lost in the forest somewhere around their village and they have been missing since some time early yesterday."

"Hokage-sama," Kurenai began, "I don't mean to sound disrespectful, but in a forest environment, an Aburame or Inuzuka would handle better than a Hyuuga," she turned to Hinata with a repentant smile on her face, "no offense, Hinata."

"But why us instead?" Sarutobi nodded and clasped his hands in front of him on the desk.

"A fair question which deserves a fair answer. To be honest, I simply feel your team would complete the job better and faster, especially with Naruto and his ability to create a large number clones and Hinata's Byakugan." He looked at each member and then spoke to Kurenai again. "I do not believe the other teams have the cohesiveness that may be needed. Team Seven is a constant struggle between the Uchiha and Inuzuka as both expect to be the leader. I do believe Team Ten would work well together but," he blushed lightly and wouldn't look either Jounin in the eye, "I do not believe they would have the drive to move quickly." Internally, Naruto and Hinata snickered when they realized he was referring to his son's lazy habits.

"I see. Then we will do our best, Sir." Kurenai took the scroll and each member of Team Eight bowed to the Hokage before exiting.

"Alright you three," Anko said. "I want you to prepare for a week long mission. This shouldn't take that long, but it is a day's journey there with these civilians and we can't expect to honestly find them in only a day. Meet at the west gate in an hour. We'll meet up with the clients and see you there." All three rushed off, though Naruto and Hinata already had their packs sealed and ready to go. Once outside, Naruto noticed Hinata had a thoughtful expression on her face.

"Something wrong, Tenshi-chan?" Hinata looked at him a second before blinking and shaking her head.

"Well, it's odd, really. My team went on this mission last time. The two boys didn't actually get lost, but were kidnapped by a a small group of bandits."

"What?" Naruto frowned as he realized this was worse than they thought, much like his own real first mission. Hinata simply nodded.

"Yes. I think there were five or six of them and they realized that the men of the village would leave early morning and be a moderate distance from the village in the fields. They kidnapped the boys to find out who would have the most money or valuables so they could get in and out quickly in case someone left in time to alert the men." Naruto sighed and his face turned grim.

"Well, that sucks." Hinata nodded. "I wonder why he gave us this mission, though. His explanation seemed a little weak, really. Shino could have given his bugs the scent of the boys and have them spread out over a huge distance. He's got as many of those bugs as I can make of Kage Bunshin."

"I'm not sure. Maybe we can ask when we return." Naruto nodded in agreement.

"That should work. How did this go the first time?" Hinata stopped and cocked her head to the side in thought.

"You know, it's already very different," she said as she began walking again. "Now that I think about it, Asuma had gone with us." Surprised, Naruto looked at her.

"You mean it was a joint mission with Team Ten just for a couple of lost kids?" Hinata shook her head.

"No. The first time around, he had Ino instead of Shino. He had said something about their families having something they did together every year for a short time and he was okay with them taking a break from training to go with them, so he didn't have a team. When he had come back to Konoha a few months ago from the Daimyo's palace, he made a stop in that town and helped them out, so they knew him and he had a general idea of the area, so he went with us since they knew him." She turned to Naruto and frowned lightly.

"It was also the first time Kurenai-sensei and Asuma really spoke and they became friendly," she said. "They enjoyed telling the story because, according to Asuma, it was like fate was putting them together." Naruto scrunched up his face.

"But Kurenai-sensei is with Anko-sensei," he said, confused. Hinata had been thinking the same thing and thought she had a solution.

"I think, when we told them we didn't care about their situation, that may have changed a little. I mean, they didn't get together during the mission, but it started everything. Last time, I don't think Kurenai-sensei was together with anyone when this started."

"So," he said slowly, "you think they decided to stay together because we supported them?" Hinata nodded and frowned thoughtfully.

"That, and they aren't getting that chance because, with Ino on our team, whatever they were doing before, they can't do this time around since she's with us." Naruto nodded solemnly. Just because they changed the teams, the child Asuma and Kurenai had together wouldn't be born.

"Do you think we should ask Kurenai-sensei and Anko-sensei about it?" Hinata turned wide eyes to Naruto before she laughed.

"And ask them what? Why they're together or why they aren't splitting up?" Naruto made a face.

"Yea, I suppose you're right. It may help to understand what changes we've made without realizing it, but it isn't worth the suspicion, I suppose." Hinata agreed and the two began to think about other things that may have ended up different because of their changes. "But, this does make me wonder why we're getting the mission all the more. It doesn't seem logical to have come to us."

xXxXxXx

**A/N –** This mission exists for a couple of reasons. One, is to show how some changes can have really big and unforeseen consequences. By going back and simply changing teams, Kurenai and Asuma, who have met before, but only briefly, will not get close enough to form the potential relationship they had in Canon. Another reason for that is, because Hinata and Naruto supported their relationship (remember, they expected to have to break it off as soon as Kurenai became a Jounin instructor,) they decided to remain together, regardless. Those two things will keep Kurenai and Asuma from becoming romantic.

Also, because Ino is on their team and not with Chouji and Shikamaru, the things they were going to do with their families did not happen and Shino and Kiba have yet to have that real life experience of missions changing and becoming something totally different and unexpected, as Canon Team Seven had with Wave.

If you look at many of the things that are being changed without even trying and looking long-term, you will see the true effects of "The Butterfly Effect", or "Ripple Effect". This is one of those things few time-travel fics have held on to that I have noticed. That certainly will not be the case here.

Also, I accidentally had Team Asuma as "Team Nine" last chapter. I have since fixed that and put them back as Team Ten.


	5. Irreversible Changes Best of Intentions

**Title:** Reforging The Past

**Chapter5 – **Irreversible Changes; Best of Intentions

**Ship:** Naruto/Hina, Naru/Harem, Naru/Hina/Ino/FemHaku/FemKyuu, Anko/Kurenai

**Author:** Paladeus

**Key:** "Speech", **"Demonic Speech"**, _'Thought'_, _**'Demonic Thought'**_

xXxXxXx

**A/N:** **Adran06** has added his own challenge on my forum list. It's a very interesting one that could be a fun story to write if anyone is interested. I recommend taking a look if for no other reason than to offer your thoughts on it or any others you see.

Remember that I tend to reply to proper reviews where I'm given a like/dislike, as many of you have learned at this point. Give a generic review, get a generic (or no) reply back. Thanks to those who've given me a like/dislike so I can ponder on my writing style and such. I appreciate knowing what you all like to see and look forward to.

**Spoiler alert:** The harem is explained in the forum thread for this story on my profile (girls, naughty little quirks, etc). I have done this because several of you have questioned me about it in general, along with several other points. That is where I am responding to most questions. Feel free to look at it, but be warned that it offers spoilers to certain aspects of this story. I will try to keep a good number of major ideas and points (such as what Hinata felt in the last chapter that brought about the naughty scene) a secret until explained in the story. The thread is "_What do you think of: Reforging the Past_".

**Yakitori –** Yakitori is simply food that has been prepared on a skewer, or wooden stick for those unaware and have asked previously. Also called a kabob.

**Recommended Story of the Chapter:** "Team 8" by S'TarKan

**xXx** – STORY – **xXx**

"You want me to actually try and play _matchmaker_ with Sasuke and one of his _fangirls_?" Kakashi asked gobsmacked. When Sarutobi told his team to wait outside of the office while they spoke together and put up silencing seals on the walls, Kakashi had thought that he was going to be let in on some state secret or S-class information. What he did _not_ expect was to be ordered, _ordered_, to make sure the two teens shared a tent and do whatever he could to get them together without being obvious. And he was only told to do this _after_ he was not allowed to record it anymore thanks to Gai!

Sarutobi leaned back in his chair and leveled a steady gaze on the cycloptic Jounin. "As a matter of fact, I am." Kakashi spluttered for a few seconds before words came to him.

"But why? I mean, the boy has shown no-"

"Kakashi," Sarutobi interrupted him. "Remember that your place is to follow the orders given to you by your superiors." Kakashi jerked as if stung as Sarutobi's words hit him. "I know your feelings about loyalties and teams over the mission, so I'm going to give you a partial answer and you will be glad to have received even that much, understood?" Kakashi nodded.

"Very well. Sasuke's latest psyche evaluation has shown his obsession to gain power and kill his brother is far more important to him than anything else, even reviving his clan to the point that he would gladly trade the continuation of his clan for Itachi's life, thus ending them all."

"Why was none of this in his file, then?" Sarutobi frowned at Kakashi's interruption again, but answered.

"This particular evaluation was done after the report that was created for the Genin graduation folders. It was not a normal evaluation, where we have since learned he was gauging his answers." Kakashi nodded to show he understood. "Anyway, there is absolutely nothing to tie him to Konoha if someone were to attempt to offer him their secrets to defect, which I have reliable intelligence to suggest Orochimaru has plans for just that."

"Are you sure?" Kakashi asked. Sarutobi nodded and continued.

"Very. So I want him to bond with her. Do you understand me?" Kakashi's single visible eye widened to epic proportions as he realized this was either do or probably die.

"Yes, sir," Kakashi answered, playing the role of soldier perfectly to show his displeasure of his orders. Sarutobi nodded, saddened that Kakashi would take his duty so childishly, but it had to be done. No matter what, Orochimaru could _not_ get his hands on Sasuke or the Sharingan.

"Good. I expect several team building exercises to get them together, possibly spending the nights outside to practice setting camps quickly and share tents and whatever else you can think of."

"As you command, Hokage-sama." Kakashi knew he had no choice in the matter. It didn't matter what his own thoughts about this were. When the Hokage gets serious about your orders, you follow them. He was a scary old man!

"Now. I normally have a particular team for this mission as they alter it for more adaptability and tests their tracking skills at a near professional level." Kakashi's hackles rose and he shivered as he realized what was coming.

"You wouldn't!" Kakashi spluttered, causing Sarutobi to smirk evilly.

"Until further notice, you will be catching Tora, the Feudal Lord's wife's cat."

On the other side of the door, and subsequently the still-active silencing jutsu, each member of Team Seven heard Kakashi's girlish scream of terror.

xXxXxXx

Ino arrived at the west gate with a large pack on her back that her father had helped her with to see Naruto and Hinata laughing together at something Naruto had apparently just commented on. She slid to a stop and dropped her pack onto the ground with a heavy thump since Kurenai, Anko and the clients had yet to arrive.

"What's up, guys?" Still smiling, both turned to her and greeted her happily while Naruto handed her a small container that was filled with different flavors of beef and pork yakitori. "Thanks! I didn't have time to eat lunch before coming over here!" She smiled brilliantly at Naruto and began to eat slowly, savoring the thoughtful meal.

"We didn't think you would, so we picked up some for everyone. We also sealed some into scrolls so it would stay warm for when we wanted it." Glancing at the large pack she had brought with her, he gestured to it and asked, "would you like me to seal that so you don't have to carry it?"

"Yes! Thank you," she chirruped. As he pulled out his scroll and began inking, she turned to Hinata who was watching him fondly as she ate her own food. "So what were you guys laughing about when I showed up?" Hinata turned to her and the pale-eyed girl's warm smile turned into a large, prankster grin that would have made Naruto proud.

"Oh. Naruto-kun was telling me what he had done with the meat drippings he had me save yesterday." Ino's grin grew to match Hinata's as Naruto finished inking and sealed the pack.

"What was that?" She asked between bites of incredibly delicious orange-flavored pork. _'For only a week and a half, the boy knows my tastes too well!'_

"Well, I waited until this morning because Kakashi always goes to the memorial stone for a few hours. I had some clones pilfer his underwear and soaked them in a mix of different animal pheromones and the drippings," he said with a huge grin. "When he walks around town tomorrow...," he trailed off as and began to snicker while Ino coughed out the piece of pork she was chewing on when she laughed. Hinata simply giggled since she already heard about it. "I just didn't realize we'd be leaving town and not get a chance to see it."

"That's cruel, Naruto." All three Genin looked to the side where their two sensei and two men were coming up with their horses. Kurenai who had spoken, Anko and Juntou were smiling brightly while Joga simply seemed to be distracted.

"It may be cruel, but it is definitely worth it!" Anko said happily. She had honestly expected that Naruto would use the drippings for that very purpose, but the pheromones were an absolutely brilliant touch!

"Be that as it may, where is all of your equipment?" Kurenai asked. Naruto held up a scroll and gestured to his two teammates.

"I sealed our packs in the scroll so we won't be weighed down." He then held up the bag he had received from Moriki's Barbecue. "Hinata-chan and I also got lunch for everyone since we would be leaving before we had a chance to eat." He distributed the containers to everyone with an apology to the clients in case it was not their preferred food.

"Don't worry about it," Juntou said happily. "We were going to eat some bread and dried meat we packed since we were in a hurry. This is much better!" As the group was leaving the west gate, they heard a quiet scream. Naruto, with the best hearing of the group, turned to the others with a perplexed expression on his face. His first prank shouldn't have gone off this quickly.

"Did anyone else hear a girlish scream of terror?"

xXxXxXx

Shino was very perturbed. Since becoming a member of Team Ten, he and the others had done what amounted to a single day's worth of actual training. His sensei, Sarutobi Asuma, just sat with Nara Shikamaru playing Shogi or Go all day long while Akamichi Chouji sat in the shade eating his chips and watching the game play out. It was insultingly inefficient. Quietly, he sat under a tree while his Kikaichu bugs buzzed as they echoed his annoyance. It would not be too much longer before the Aburame stoicism his clan was famous for cracked.

xXxXxXx

"Yes! Run in little circles like the mighty gerbil in that tiny wheel, my youthful Genin! Let the flames of youth ignite your passion of burning muscles and haggard breathing!" Gai yelled out to his three Genin, one of which was yelling out in a nearly euphoric glee while the other two plotted ways make their deaths look like an unfortunate accident.

"Yes, Gai-sensei! I feel the burn! I love the burn! My legs ache with the fiery passion that are my flames of youth!" The green-clad Rock Lee exclaimed. Hyuuga Neji's left eyebrow twitched. And then he snapped.

"Hakke Rokujuu Yonshou! (Divination Field – 64 Strikes!)" Lee, who was in mid-leap from speaking, squawked indignantly as Neji closed all sixty-four of his primary tenketsu. He fell to the ground with a heavy thud, his weights bringing him down very fast and embedding him into the earth. Gai sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Neji, we have really got to work on your anger management." Gai lifted his swirly-eyed Genin to his shoulder and motioned the others to follow him. "Come, my youthful students! To the hospital!"

"Let's go, Neji," Tenten sighed. "If we aren't there to stop him, he may think an over-sized wheel would make a good training tool." Ahead of them, Maito Gai turned around with flames in his eyes.

"YOSH! A brilliant idea, Tenten!" With the kind of vigor only repressed mental trauma could provide, he turned away from his frightened Genin and began heading towards the hospital at a fast clip as his two Genin followed as quickly as possible, trying to talk sense into him.

xXxXxXx

Sakura and Kiba watched Kakashi through concerned eyes as they left the Hokage's Tower. He was holding his orange book in a weak grip, or so it seemed until Kiba got a look at the open pages and tried to snatch it away. The young Inuzuka nearly got a kunai through his hand! The only thing that saved him was that it was a purely reflexive action by the spaced-out Jounin. But the moment he came out of the Hokage's office, he had not spoken, he had not looked at his dirty book and he had not responded to anything that his two curious Genin said to him.

"I'm just saying," Sakura whispered to Kiba, "he must have been given something horrible as a mission for us!"

"And I'm telling _you_," Kiba scoffed, "that we can handle anything! I bet it's some kind of arranged marriage and he has to make a bunch of kids or something." Kiba said, his mind way off track due to seeing the contents of the book his sensei had before he deftly dodged a hay maker from the enraged kunoichi.

"Pervert!" Sakura pulled back as she yelled so that she could try to hit Kiba again while he was off balance, but she was instead blasted by a massive killing intent and stopped dead in her tracks. A second later, she realized it was not directed right at her, but all around, and that allowed her to turn slowly to see a very large man, in a very tiny, green suit with some kind of green growth over his right shoulder glaring at her sensei. _'What the hell is on his eyebrows! They're eating him alive!'_

"Kakashi!" The man in green stalked towards his cycloptic Jounin, his killing intent still just as strong as it had been. "You are not following my youthful, alternative path!" Behind the green man were two other very confused Genin in battle-ready positions. They were not sure what set their sensei off, but they were professional enough to be ready when he got serious.

"Gai-sensei? What's going on?" Tenten asked, eyeing the team behind the Jounin that pissed off her sensei, judging their danger potential. The pink-haired kunoichi was probably only dangerous to a civilian, the Inuzuka she could handle, but he would be a moderate threat. They had a tendency to be fast and strong. The Uchiha she knew had above average taijutsu and chakra stores, but would fall instantly to Neji. The Jounin was already terrified of Gai, who she had not seen this pissed in a year of knowing the man.

"Neji, Tenten. Take Lee to the hospital. Myself and Kakashi have some unfinished business." As he spoke, he picked up the odd green growth on his shoulder and handed it off to his Genin, much to Sakura's shock. It was a person! At least it sort of looked like one.

xXxXxXx

"So, you teach your kids from a young age to survive in the forest and forage for food?" Ino asked as they were walking for the next mile or so. They had run at a good pace and made up roughly three quarters of the distance to the village when the horses showed signs of tiring due to excessive activity after being run through the night and most of the day and were using this time to let them cool down before picking up the pace again. Even Juntou and Joga were wobbly in their saddles, having stayed awake the whole time rather than sleep as they sat for the thirteen hours they had been riding.

Juntou nodded to Ino's question, eating slowly from the leftover yakitori Naruto had unsealed to go along a ration of fish. "Yeah. It's a useful skill to have and we make a game out of it like hide and seek, only we call it 'hunt and prey' since the children who learn have to hunt down an experienced woodsman who leaves only the clues he wants to." Beside Naruto, Anko was nodding with a thoughtful look on her face.

"That's actually a really good idea. Maybe we can mention it to Sandaime-sama and get it put into the Academy training." She cocked her head to the side, thinking up her own little twist. "Only make it with lots of traps and someone hunting them down at the same time to keep them from their target."

"Maybe nighttime excursions or something as well," Ino added, happy to be able to contribute. In the past two and a half weeks since becoming a member of Team Eight, she realized, and quite painfully at that, that she was easily the weakest one on the team. She had originally thought that she would be smarter and have better chakra control than the class' dead-last in all categories and that she could stomp the timid Hyuuga into the ground without really trying. But after the first week, she had lost all delusions of self-pride and grandeur that she had held and had been getting extra training from her two teammates, of all people.

"I really like that idea," Naruto said as he traded a teriyaki flavored yakitori to Hinata and snatched the sesame she offered in its place. "When I'm Hokage, that is _definitely_ on the list of alterations to put into the Academy." Juntou laughed as Naruto took a big chomp out of his food.

"Yea, Kensei has some of the best woodsmen around because of that. Kids love it and always want to play it," Juntou grinned. Naruto swallowed his food and cocked his head to the side.

"Kensei," Naruto asked, a fleeting thought of something almost being recollected in his memory flittering about in his mind. "That sounds really familiar." Slightly ahead of the younger group, Anko looked over her shoulder to reply since Kurenai was speaking with Joga.

"It should. Kensei is one of Konoha's largest suppliers of grain in this area," she said, slowing down slightly to run beside them. "They supply us with enough for much of our day-to-day usage while larger suppliers around the country bring in the larger hauls." As she finished, Juntou nodded happily. It was always good when those you worked for could recognize your worth to them.

"Exactly," Juntou said. "While we don't have enough people or farming land to supply you with as much as Konoha needs, we make enough to take care of ourselves and have a sizable shipment to you while the larger growers take care of the majority of your needs since we can't cultivate enough land."

"Why can't you cultivate more land?" Ino asked from beside Hinata.

"During the last war, the Iwa shinobi set fire to our crops so that they could try to weaken Konoha," Juntou said, grim-faced and completely missed Naruto as he paled, though Anko made careful note of it. With the two other girls on the other side of Juntou's horse, they missed it as well. "While that normally wouldn't be enough to cripple us this far into the future, they had used some kind of technique that made most of our fields far too rocky to support crops."

"It's standard enemy tactics, kids," Anko said, remembering those dark times. "If the enemy doesn't eat, they can't keep up their strength, which makes them easier to kill later, or they just die from disease and weakness."

"So, then why can't we just send our ninja out to turn it back?" Ino frowned as she tried to see the intelligence in changing the ground. Dirt was dirt. Juntou thought about the question as well and decided to listen to see if he could figure it out himself. He had always been told things were as they were, but had no idea why.

"All villages have their own techniques," Anko began, catching the moment as a great chance to make a very needed point to her Genin before they had to learn the hard way. "In Konoha, we have the Kage Bunshin, as an example, that no one outside a Konoha shinobi knows. At least as far as we're aware. In Mist, they've got a Mizu Bunshin. Similar, but different. Both have benefits and downsides to both versions," Anko continued. She checked each student to make sure they were listening before she continued again.

"The point is, there may be some techniques that do the same basic thing, but aren't the same actual technique. That being said, Iwa did something to the ground that didn't just turn it into rock and regular dirt, but actually _killed_ the ground."

"Killed the ground?" Ino and Hinata asked at once, causing Anko to nod. Hinata had never heard anything like this before, even during training with Tsunade. While it was possible to kill cells in a person's body, they were living to begin with. The ground had no life force, though, did it?

"What do you know about natural chakra?" Anko asked each student, not really expecting an answer. To her surprise, it was actually Naruto who answered for her.

"Natural chakra is different than the chakra we use. It's actually a natural energy like our own chakra, but a combination of that and the elemental chakras we use. It's everywhere. Trees, water, air, rocks...," he said, trailing off. Anko smirked and nodded, pleasantly surprised.

"I know that we have elemental chakra, like water and air, but I never heard of 'natural' chakra, before," Hinata said frustratedly. She had been apprenticed to Tsunade for just shy of two years. How could she honestly have not learned about this? Or read about it in the Hyuuga clan archives before the house had been bombed? She had certainly spent enough time there when they were creating a way to control the Kyuubi's chakra when Naruto had to use it.

"Only a hand full of people in the entire world would be able to see or manipulate natural chakra. Because of that, it is passed off as below a human to put much use in, especially since we can't utilize it since it's harmful to humans because it's so pure. It's just too much for our bodies to contain, even with training unless it's a part of a special bloodline," Anko continued.

"The elemental chakras we use are all elements of life and they are all balanced. Each element has another element it is both strong and weak against. They exist in a circle of strength and weakness; water is absorbed by earth, earth is broken by lightning, lightning cut by air, air feeding fire and fire being smoldered by water. However, all of the elements work together as much as they fight each other, which is the life-force of the earth." Anko gestured towards the trees and world around them as she spoke, trying to imply how grand that statement truly was.

"Then what about the elemental affinities we use?" Ino asked. "If we use those, why can't we use all of them?"

"We can," Anko assured her. "Just not all of them at once. For instance, we have jutsu in Konoha for fire, a few for air, some for water and lightning and such. But an affinity only means you are stronger in that particular element and they will come easier to you, not that it is the only one you have. Some Jounin will develop one or even two affinities, which means working with an element until you learn to harness its power better. Nothing more than that. A ninja can strengthen their affinity for one element, but that automatically weakens whatever is the balance for what they strengthen."

"Oh, I see. So, having an element doesn't mean that's the only one we can use, but that we're better at them," Ino asked.

"Yes. The elemental balance is in all of use, but most of us find ourselves stronger in one area over another. That's why we have affinities. The balance inside of us isn't perfect, just like it isn't in nature. That's part of why the weather acts like it does, so that we have rain, lightning storms, bad winds, earthquakes and all that other stuff. It's where the balance gets slightly off in nature," Anko said. "Without the presence of water, for example, fire is much stronger, which is where forest fires come about. We deal with that on occasion in and around Konoha, after all."

"So how does this tie into Kensei and their fields?" Hinata asked, perturbed she had not been told yet.

"They killed the natural flow of chakra into the land there," Anko said grimly. "It's a horrible thing to do, really. And very dangerous, as it can upset the balance. But it would have to be done on a larger scale than they had done," Anko shrugged, somewhat unconcerned as there was nothing they could do about it. Suddenly, Hinata's eyes widened.

"So, you're saying that the earth has chakra flow like we do, and that flow of chakra helps plants grow? Without the chakra there, it's like an arm on a person that is dead!" Hinata was quickly running through the concept in her head, thinking of the different scenarios she could think of while Anko nodded proudly.

"Exactly! While water and sun are needed for plants to grow, they need chakra, just like we do. Even civilians have chakra, but they have so little, they can do next to nothing with it. But it is still needed for them to grow and be healthy."

"Anko-sensei," Ino said hesitantly, "we have chakra networks. The earth doesn't have that, does it?" Ino had never heard of such a thing before. She watched as her odd teacher thought for a few seconds and then shrugged.

"No clue," Anko deadpanned. "There are old legends of a 'spirit of the earth' that was called 'Gaia'. It was the soul of the earth just as we have our own souls. Legends say that she got sick, just as we did, which would be where she would have bad weather. Forest fires, earthquakes, typhoons and all that other bad stuff would be like her way of purging the earth of whatever was hurting her so that she could heal after too much damage was done. The problem, however, is that no one has ever been able to prove that theory, though it _has_ been proven that the earth has its own chakra. Most ninja ignore it outright, though, because no one has learned to control it properly, so it upsets them that they know it's there but can't use it."

"Actually, your balance comment makes a lot of sense," Juntou said thoughtfully. "Ever since the war, we've had probably twice the rain as we had before, according to the older people in the village. And it became a little colder than usual and there is almost always a light mist until the sun has gone up a ways." Anko raised her eyebrows at Juntou's comment.

"Interesting," Anko mused. Ino, who had found the whole conversation extremely fascinating had begun to make a few connections in her mind. While she did not have the brains of Sakura, she was an intelligent girl. She just assumed she got that _very_ slight mental disadvantage for the incredible physical beauty she was graced with. Or at least, that was her story and she planned on sticking to it.

"Well, if you think of what you said literally, then the earth element was taken away," Ino looked around as if gaining knowledge from the expanse of nature around them. "Without earth, then water would become much stronger since it's held in check by earth. And with water being stronger, fire would be weaker since it's water's balance. It's just like those jutsu balancing problems Iruka-sensei made us do in the Academy."

"Very excellent, Ino!" Anko praised the chipper blonde who beamed at the approval. Ino had despaired when she realized she was easily the weakest one on the team and was looking for the opportunity to improve herself. She just knew that Sakura was going to improve by leaps and bounds while on the same team as Sasuke and the famed Copycat Ninja.

"I don't understand," Naruto started. He had come to a very bad conclusion and was hoping he was wrong about Kensei, but would deal with it later if he had to. "Iwa shinobi are all about earth-based jutsu. Why would they ruin the chakra aspects of their primary element? In order to use existing elements and to incorporate them into jutsu, you have to control the chakra you put into that element. Wouldn't that be detrimental to their own fighting styles?" Anko and Kurenai, from her place beside Joga, both looked at Naruto in surprise. Part of that surprise came from his knowledge of elemental techniques, the other came from the extra odd words he would throw in on occasion. Few thirteen year olds used words like 'detrimental'.

"The Academy doesn't teach anything in-depth about elemental techniques," Kurenai said. "How did you learn about that?"

Naruto was barely able to hold back a wince as he was called on his knowledge again. "I have no family and my life's sole purpose right now is to this team," Naruto said, shrugging to show himself as unconcerned as possible, despite that he was ready to bolt and to give himself a few extra seconds to think. "So, I broke into the Shinobi Library to borrow some light reading." As soon as Naruto finished, Hinata snorted lightly in repressed laughter, automatically and unintentionally diverting some of the suspicion. It was not so much that he used that as an excuse, but that she remembered when he _had_ broken into the library so that he could get a cook book for their first date. It still turned out as a blackened slab of char, but it was the thought that counted. And that he offered to pay at the restaurant of her choosing, of course.

"Anyway," Anko said, bemusement showing on her face. She would have to get them to try that later. "We actually don't know why they were doing it. The Yondaime and a small attack force he was leading caught them in the middle of whatever it was they were trying, so they never finished."

"Alright guys! Joga said the horses have rested enough! We're back to running!" Kurenai yelled out from the front of the group where Joga spurred his horse into a canter. Anko took the opportunity to catch up to her and hold a small conversation while Juntou begged off and caught up to his neighbor for his own. Ino, on the other hand, frowned and looked over at the other blonde on the team and decided to ask him what he knew.

"So," she asked, sidling up to Naruto with Hinata checking every thirty or so seconds for enemies with her Byakugan, "you know a bit about elemental affinities?"

Surprised, Naruto looked at her and nodded. "Yup. I've been working on my air affinity for a while now."

"Oh," Ino asked, very shocked. "I thought elemental training was hard to do. I've always heard you don't even touch it until becoming Chuunin, so I never really looked into it."

"Yes," Naruto nodded, "it's pretty hard. But I haven't exactly had a lot to do when I'm not in the Academy, so I was always training. It was just common sense to keep going forward instead of letting myself stagnate." Naruto watched Ino nod, completely unaware of the two Jounin ahead of them listening in very carefully as they ran. Elemental training was far too difficult and dangerous for someone to do on their own. It would have been doubly so for Naruto. Or should have been, at any rate. And they were beginning to learn a lot more about the blonde enigma that had been put on their team.

"Do you think you could talk with me about it some time?" Ino asked. Kurenai and Anko's initial instinct was screaming at them to stop that line of questioning, as it could be deadly with the smallest of mistakes, but decided to see where Naruto would take this. Hinata herself was listening in and contemplating bringing her own affinity back up. Neither she or Naruto had touched elemental techniques for fear of being caught. While she could potentially get away with a made up story, it would have been almost impossible for Naruto.

"I can try to answer any of your questions, but I can't promise how much I know. I'm pretty decent with my wind affinity, but won't really be able to help you with much else. Hinata-chan could help with water, though, if you have that. We'll have to wait until we get back to Konoha to find out what your affinity is," Naruto said, closing the train of thought he could see in her eyes before it got too far, causing the girl to pout.

"Fine, but what can you tell me about it for now?"

"Each element has a few special characteristics to it that the others won't have, or at least not to the same extent," he began, telling Ino of the nature of each element as they walked. He would not have been as informative as he was if he was not trying to ignore where he suspected they were heading, even if doing so would have kept Ino from getting as much knowledge as could potentially help them in the future. Throughout his entire conversation with Ino and occasionally Hinata filling in small gaps or where he had misspoken, Kurenai and Anko kept an ear on them and subtly giving each other looks, both wondering how the fresh Genin could possibly have received that kind of information. While it was standard stuff for the most part, a surprising amount of his knowledge only came with experience or the kind of scrolls that were under heavy protections in the libraries of Konoha or clans.

xXxXxXx

"Gai, please don't do this to me!" Kakashi plead once again. He was currently on his hands and knees in the taijutsu expert's home, hugging Gai's legs and begging for the green-clad man to reconsider. "Please! I'll do anything! I'll teach your students ninjutsu, let that Hyuuga kid close my tenketsu, provide moving targets for that panda-girl on your team, spar with Lee, _anything_!" Kakashi looked up to the giant, rock of a man who was staring down passively, no emotion on his frighteningly-stoic face.

"You have brought this upon yourself, Kakashi. You are my friend. My best friend, at that," he said, his voice softening just enough at the end that Kakashi was not sure if he imagined it or not. "I can not allow you to fall prey to yourself or your inner ... whatever you would call that inner you that is into that erotica. My decision stands." Using his impressive strength, Gai simply stepped away from Kakashi's sobbing form, breaking the iron hold the Copycat Ninja had around his legs and opened his door.

"You are prepared and I have given you what you shall need. You will follow the path I have set out for you, or you will find yourself at my mercy. And I assure you Kakashi, I will not allow my pity for you to cloud my actions." Gai watched impassively as Kakashi struggled to his feet, the orange leg warmers around his calves actually frighteningly comfortable, but the ones around his forearms and the weighted belt and flak jacket kept his legs wobbling.

While Kakashi had been allowed to keep his hitai-ate over his left eye as it had been before, the cloth band that secured it was turned orange as well as his mask. But from the neck down, aside from the belt and leg warmers, he was covered in green. Worse, he was unable to wear his usual boxer shorts, leaving him in some kind of tight, white fabric that held to him snugly to keep the jumpsuit form bunching in the most uncomfortable of places. But as much as that was supposed to help, the fabric of the jumpsuit was nothing like that of his usual outfit, meaning that any time he became 'affected' during his private reading time, or the random activity around town, it would be extremely obvious what state he was in. The cloth just was not thick enough to contain him properly. He could not even wear the usual protection plate he put over himself for when easily-angered kunoichi caught him 'observing' them for possible security leaks. He swore by his Icha Icha book that was all he was doing! Sure, it may have had an odd reaction a time or two, with each woman, but he was doing his duty for Konoha!

"Gai, what are people going to think? What are they going to s-say?" Kakashi asked, stuttering at the end as the weight nearly made him topple. He began channeling chakra throughout his body to lessen the strain greatly. The only good thing to come of this, if he could not convince Gai to change his mind, was that he would have larger reserves and be quite a bit faster so he could beat the bastard into oblivion the next time they sparred.

"I do not care," Gai said, getting impatient with Kakashi. "Whoever gave you that letter is giving you the chance to change instead of killing you outright. Sometimes, one must take what they are given to become stronger for the future." Kakashi slumped and stared at the larger man.

"Oh shut up with that cycle of life shit," Kakashi deadpanned. "I just don't want people to see me like this." Kakashi's single visible eye widened as he realized his loose tongue just screwed him over as Gai glared for a moment before showing off a smirk that only had a home on Mitarashi Anko's face.

"You are right, Kakashi. We shouldn't send you out like that," he said as he grabbed a sheet of fabric from another room and brought it up to Kakashi and unfurled it, showing the same green outfit, but when Gai turned it over, Kakashi saw "Flames of Youth" on the butt of the jumpsuit in bright orange that would make that Uzumaki kid envious, causing the battle-hardened ex-ANBU captain to let out a whimper.

xXxXxXx

Only a few hours before nightfall, Team Eight and their two charges crested over a hill at the edge of the forest line to see a wide expanse of fields to the west where the sun was beginning to set, a small and quaint village with the forest continuing towards the east. As the village came into view, Naruto's eyes closed shut and breathed deeply, trying to keep visions from his past from coming to the forefront of his mind's eye. It failed horribly.

"_What the hell happened here?" Kiba asked as he and Akamaru tried to block their noses from the stench of charred bodies and muddy puddles that were made from the blood that pooled on the ground. Bodies were staked up on pikes that where roughly skewered into the backs of the villagers; man woman and child, and surrounded the village in a ring as most of the buildings smoldered, some having been stuffed with villagers first if the blackened skeletons meant anything. Hopefully, they were dead before the fires started, but that was not likely. And they knew that._

"_We've got a live one!" One of the ninja that Naruto and Kiba had met up with on their way to the village when the smoke had been seen yelled out from the center of the town where several ninja quickly converged. There, they found a man who had been skinned and left hanging, bound by his wrists over his head on a large pole in the ground, tied up and bound by his own flesh. His body had bled out and was completely empty of its life fluid if the coagulated puddle underneath of the man was any indication. He had a black snake wrapped around his neck that held its fangs pierced into the man's jugular vein._

"_What the hell? I thought you said he was alive!" An ANBU scolded from the side where he was coming up to the group. Naruto gazed at the snake and sighed._

"_He _is_ alive, sort of. That's one of Orochimaru's most recent techniques," Naruto said, unable to take his eyes off of the snake._

"_What are you talking about?" The ANBU asked. Before Naruto could answer, however, the man on the post began speaking in a scratchy and hissing voice._

"_You pathetic humans! Stop your incessant ramblings at once!" As soon as the man began speaking, all of the Konoha ninja naturally went into battle-ready stances except for Naruto, who expected this very thing. Taking pity on the frantic ninja, who knew that no human could, or should, be alive without blood, decided to offer a brief explanation._

"_It was a forbidden jutsu he came up with about four months ago. As the human dies, the snake takes the life-force, rather than let it escape to the afterlife. Doing so, it has control over the body for as long as the snake keeps its fangs embedded within the host's neck, giving it full control of the body's motor functions. With his summoned snakes, he would be able to make an army out of them, even if not a good one since they can't seem to figure out how to walk." As Naruto finished, the possessed man chuckled, its voice dry and even more scratchy._

"_Very good, human. I was indeed left by my master, Orochimaru-sama. I am here to deliver a message to you all." The snake's amusement was obvious as the group from Konoha released a fair amount of killing intent._

"_What's this message then, serpent?" The same ANBU spoke contemptuously. It was obvious from the blonde brat's explanation and the snake's agreement that the human was already dead, but the sooner he could kill that talking belt, the better._

"_The Sharingan will soon be mine and this village is only the beginning. I have waited three long years for this time to come and I will allow no one to stop me from my path! Death, destruction and horror will be delivered to all of the Fire Nation! I will rule and there is nothing you can do to stop me!"_

"_You little bastard!" Before the ANBU had a chance to rush the amused snake, it laughed and imparted a last bit of wisdom, enjoying the sense of playing with his master's prey._

"_Be warned, humans. My master has grown greatly in strength! You shall all perish." The snake chuckled dryly and removed its fangs from the dead human before disappearing in a puff of smoke._

"_You mean Orochimaru did all of this?" Kiba asked, looking around at the needless destruction. Akamaru had been sniffing about and, while the smell of blood and fire was everywhere, he detected only seven chakra-heavy scents. This kind of destruction was done by only seven people and they killed what looked like the entire village!_

"_It looks that way. Look around for any signs of where they were going or what they were after. We can talk things over later." Each person in the group followed the ANBU's orders since he was the ranking soldier in the field. _

_Naruto and Kiba went into one of the remaining buildings while the others searched elsewhere. While it did not look as though survivors were going to be around, there was always the slightest of chances that they had hidden well enough. Naruto began searching the combined living and dining area while Kiba went down the hall to look the bedrooms over as Akamaru sniffed around outside, too large to get inside the door._

_Kiba sniffed the air experimentally, searching for any fresh scents before their own in case of any hidden traps left by the Sound ninja and caught a faint trace from the closet. Quietly, he stepped over and listened carefully, but did not hear any movement. None of the enemy ninja would still be around, but traps had been left by Orochimaru's men for two years since starting his guerrilla tactics against Konoha._

_The Inuzuka knocked on the door away from him and called out, "hey, is anyone in there?" _

"_What is it Kiba?" Naruto asked lowly, having three clones scour each of the other rooms. Kiba motioned for Naruto to be quiet and be careful._

"_I can smell the residue of fear," he whispered, "but no other recent scents." He finished, slowly turning the knob on the door. Once opened, he resisted the urge to recoil in disgust. The whole closet absolutely wreaked of the vile scent. "Anyone in there?" He asked again as Naruto covered his nose from the smell._

_Quietly, Naruto pointed out a bundle of cloth in the corner and prepared a kunai as Kiba reached down to move the thick blanket. Quickly getting out of the way as he yanked the blanket in case Naruto had to let his kunai fly, he almost did not dodge the sudden vomit that escaped his blonde-haired comrade. Looking inside, Kiba quickly followed Naruto's lead._

"_What the hell happened to her?" Naruto asked, shaking slightly. Kiba wiped his mouth with the back of his hand as he took the girl's features in. She could not have been but five and had her eyes clenched tightly shut, even in death. Her tiny hands covered her ears and her face was already stuck in a horrifying expression of fear._

"_She was scared to death," Kiba said, unable to look away. Naruto looked at Kiba skeptically._

"_I know old people can get so scared they have heart attacks, but she's way too young for that, isn't she?" Deciding it would not be proper to just leave, Naruto placed the blanket back over the dead girl as Kiba responded._

"_You can still smell it," he bit out. "Your nose isn't as good as mine, but close enough. This attack happened hours ago, but her fear was strong enough to hang around this long. If she had been a little older, then maybe not, but she was young enough that she couldn't handle it." Motioning Naruto to follow, they met up with the others as Naruto's clones popped out of existence. Naruto could not say anything in response as he followed Kiba out of the house, knowing that only the signs of merciless slaughter would be in the house._

"_You two find anything," the ANBU asked. Both shook their heads, knowing that the little girl would not be what he would want to know about._

"_No. Valuables were still around, there aren't any obvious signs that he's taken anyone for experimentations again and there weren't any traps in the house," Naruto said, the knowledge from his clones supplying him with the answer._

"_Alright, then. Once those Chuunin are finished with their house we'll-"_

_The ANBU was cut off as a massive explosion burst from one of the three remaining buildings. The shinobi acted on instinct and dove for the ground as shrapnel made of wood, glass, nails and stone flew over their heads._

"_What the hell is wrong with those idiots! They knew to expect fucking traps by this point!" As everyone got up and began moving out to look for possible wounded, several snake summons slithered out from the bloody mud and made their way to their targets. The first was able to get a Chuunin that was still disoriented from his close proximity to the blast in the neck as one of its cohorts got the Chuunin in the ankles. His screams alerted the rest in time to see the slithering enemy almost on them._

"_Damnit!" The ANBU leader yelled, royally pissed off. He had been given an incompetent team and Tsunade was going to kick his ass when they returned, he just knew it. Quickly flashing through a set of hand seals, he blew out a large ball of fire to kill the snakes and dry any blood and mud from the ground so it would be more difficult to allow any others to come up. "Fuck it! We couldn't find anything before that last house, and it's gone! Place your tags and ready the primers! Blow these bastards to hell!" _

_Naruto, Kiba and the remaining two Chuunin quickly did as they were told and followed the ANBU leader as he cleared a path with a steady fire stream from his mouth as they got out of the blast radius. They stopped far enough away to still see the village as the ANBU leader attached the ignition note onto a knife he had liberated from the kitchen of the house he had checked, not wanting to lose one of his kunai, which was quickly becoming an expensive commodity in Konoha with Orochimaru and Iwa cutting off supply routes and destroying the villages that supplied them with their goods._

_Both Naruto and Kiba watched in silence as the village erupted into a bright light and exploded. Any traps Orochimaru had left, or anything he may have hoped to have gained was destroyed by the blast and no one would have to come across a village with its people staked up around it. _

_Running together and behind the ANBU leader and two remaining Chuunin, Naruto and Kiba were contemplating on how horrible the little girl had to have had it for her last minutes, or perhaps hours, of her life when Kiba decided to break the tense silence._

"_We have to kill those bastards." Though he spoke quietly, Naruto could feel the resolve in his voice. "Every single last one of them. They're killing innocent people and destroying the way of life for a lot of good people." _

_Naruto nodded, "That's something I can agree with you on, Dog-Boy. We'll destroy every last one of those bastards." Neither Naruto or Kiba spoke again the rest of their return journey, even as Akamaru joined them after the explosion and their mutual agreement._

"Naruto? Are you alright?" Anko asked. She had been watching Naruto carefully for his reaction to the village. The boy should not have known much of anything about it, or several other things he had spoken about recently, and she was getting curious. His reaction, however, concerned her. She had not seen a reaction like his practically since the Great Shinobi War and a little while after when people were getting used to their lives again.

"Yeah," Naruto said, smiling back at Anko. "The sight of the village just reminded me of something that happened a while ago, and a promise I had made." He continued walking, realizing his little trip down memory lane had happened faster than he thought it had.

That time when he visited this village and found it literally killed off, and that poor little girl in the closet having literally become scared to death, had been the first time the concept of war had actually hit home for him and Kiba. Most of what they heard about had been from reports before Orochimaru had attacked the village and openly kicked off the beginning of the next Great War. Naruto had come across several villagers like his first trip to Kensei had been. Some had even been far worse having become temporary training camps for Orochimaru and his men.

Kensei had been a small-scale version of it, but later villages had become testing grounds for those who would become his special fighting units. They had forced children to run around so they could test the accuracy of throwing skills on a randomly moving target, experiment with torture and interrogation techniques on the men, unless one of them seemed especially suited for Orochimaru's new seal experiments, while the women were served as 'rewards' to those who passed properly, before becoming the last test to see who could kill the slowest with the least amount of blood. Jiraiya's spy toad had not been sober a day after retelling what he had seen, even until the old pervert's death.

Anko, not really knowing how to press Naruto in to saying more than he wanted, and having learned by this point that it was neigh impossible to do, simply nodded and left Naruto to his thoughts as she caught back up with Kurenai, motioning that they would have to speak later as Hinata came up to Naruto and looked at him worriedly as Ino continued to speak to Juntou about the village, almost frighteningly curious about learning about the ground and asking lots of questions about the weather.

"Naruto-kun? Are you really okay?" She asked, taking his hand in hers and lacing their fingers together. Naruto smiled at her sadly.

"I will be. I just remembered something about Kensei from before," he said, knowing she would understand what he meant. It also had the added benefit of keeping the eavesdropping Jounin from understanding, though he was not aware they had been doing so.

"Do you want to talk about it? It's helped for you in the past." She watched as he swallowed thickly and gazed at the village as they neared.

"It was a little girl," he said quietly and slowly. The two Jounin were able to hear with their chakra-enhanced ears, but both were completely confused. "It was the first village Orochimaru completely destroyed. We never really found out why he chose it, but ...," he trailed off, nearly making Anko and Kurenai explode in their anticipation. They were not sure what he was talking about, but it sounded like it was something that the boy had already experienced and Orochimaru had not been seen in some time, even by their spy networks.

"Is this what Kiba had told me about? When the two of you were with that scouting party and had to blow the village up because of the traps Orochimaru had laid?" Hinata asked, keeping her voice level with his, but confusing the Jounin even more. Naruto simply nodded.

"Yes. We found a little girl in the closet of our house while we were searching it. She had hidden in the closet and was literally scared to death," he said. He had thought he was over this long ago, but for some reason, his body was not reacting the way it used to. His shoulders shook slightly and it took almost everything he had to not cry.

"Shh," Hinata cooed into his ear and squeezed his hand gently. "We can stop all of that from happening again, Naru-kun. We just have to make sure we don't like him get the same kind of power he had before we came back." Unknown to both Genin, Anko and Kurenai suddenly both had similar thoughts and looked at each other, silently communicating. Things just got really complicated.

xXxXxXx

Messenger Ninja Two-Two-Three-Nine, Ranna, had finally tracked down the village that had once been Whirlpool and found it to be a village of rising prosperity. He knew enough of its history to know that it had been all but torn apart by Iwa Shinobi who had been hoping to find the Uzumaki clan's real home. No one was sure if such a place existed, but it had been believed that they had a secret home that was known only to their family, while they maintained a normal appearance outside in a home just like the other larger clans.

That public home had been torn apart, quite literally brick by brick, and the grounds excavated in hopes of finding the mythical trove of stolen jutsu. They were, after all, known as some of the world's foremost leading espionage and infiltration experts, having started their clan by stealing from those who were bad and copying anything they could get their hands on from those who were good.

Admittedly, they had not been known for such activities in the past several decades, but they were a dieing family, as well. All messenger ninja knew of them because they were the one clan, the one family, who no messenger ninja felt they could truly escape, if they even knew they had been duped to begin with. Some of the messenger ninja claimed to believe that some Uzumaki still roamed the nights, looking to reclaim the good days.

Ranna just thought they got too drunk around the campfire and nothing was more scary to a messenger ninja than an enemy who they could not fight on a level playing field. Messenger Ninja certainly were not afraid of ghosts, but everyone needs an antagonist. The boogey man for them was just the Uzumaki clan.

Putting thoughts of what he could very potentially be resurrecting with the completion of his assignment, Ranna banished those thoughts from his mind and began to ask around for whoever was in charge of the village for the moment.

"Excuse me, Ma'am. May I inquire to ask where the leader of this village is currently at?" Ranna watched patiently as the woman gave him a critical once-over, looking at his hitai-ate as carefully as the rest of him. After a quick moment of inspection, she seemed to nod slightly to herself and turned slightly to point at a green-roofed building.

"Matome Yaku is our elder, right now. He'll be found in that building with the green roof." She turned back to Ranna as he bowed low.

"I think you very much, Ma'am. May you have a wonderful day." Ranna walked away from the middle-aged woman as she smiled at him. He was always amazed how showing excellent manners and being kind could make a person so much happier. She looked downright grumpy when he approached her.

Quickly making his way towards the house he had pointed out to him, Ranna found he was being watched, but did not have the slightest clue of who it was or from where. Expanding his senses, he could not find a trace of anyone aside from the general populace. It did not feel like there were more than perhaps two ninja-level people within the quarter mile he could sense out. He knew that Whirlpool had nearly every one of its ninja taken by Iwa or simply killed, but he honestly expected more than this to be in the area.

"Stop," a guard at the door to the large house held up a hand to motion Ranna to remain still. "What is your name and purpose of visiting?" He asked again. Ranna situated his glasses on his nose in minor annoyance. He was so very close to answers that not only his client wanted, but he himself was curious about.

"Messenger Ninja Two-Two-Three-Nine, Ranna. Here to see the current leader of this village," Ranna replied, handing the guard his identification papers and careful not to mention the village's old name. It was well-known that they were touchy about that.

"Very well," the guard said after taking a look at the paperwork and handing it back to Ranna. "You will be escorted by Sanosuke." A hidden man came from the side of the entrance, surprising Ranna momentarily. Perhaps there was a different reason he did not sense anyone other than them not being there.

"Thank you," Ranna bowed. This mission was coming up full of surprises.

xXxXxXx

**Omake:** Mom's Home Remedy

"Why the hell are we going to _this_ house! This bastard's dog keeps trying to force themselves on poor Akamaru!" Kiba yelled, furious that they were going to some old bat's house because of her mongrel dogs.

"Because Kiba," Kakashi said exasperatedly. "Her dogs aren't barking whenever someone comes close to her property anymore and she's worried about thieves." Kakashi ignored the angry Inuzuka as he scoffed, simply turning back to his book. Sanosuke was about to get very, _very_ lucky with Yuri-hime, and her two sisters.

Team Seven stood at the door as an elderly woman opened it and smiled, showing yellow and black teeth while what had to have been twenty cats roamed around behind her.

"Oh, goody! You're here," she motioned them to follow her as she went around the side of the house where a mangy old hound dog was chained to his moldy home. The dog got up and eyed the intruders warily, but did not bark or growl. Kiba grumbled, but lumbered forward.

"Alright mutt, what's wrong? Why aren't you barking up a storm or trying to take Akamaru's virtue again?" Behind Kiba's legs, Akamaru yapped his agreement at the larger dog.

"**Because, you insolent two-legger! My damned throat is sore and I can't bark at you!"** The dog said, though only Kiba and Akamaru could hear him. Kakashi, however, noticed a strange glint in Kiba's eye as the dog-user smiled.

"Hey! No problem! Mom's home remedy will have you fixed up in no time!" Kiba said brightly. The old woman behind him, standing next to Sakura, clapped her hands gleefully.

"Oh! Wonderful! How will you help my poor baby?" She asked. Kiba simply walked over and grabbed a small towel hanging form the woman's line and to the back of her house, where he began to speak as he followed through with each action.

"It's simple, really. You just take a towel, and some ice-cold hose water," he said, wetting the towel before tossing the hose to the side and the swinging the towel around and hitting the old woman's dog with a loud "SHWLACK!" to her utter shock. The dog lurched towards Kiba, but stopped a foot away where his chain stopped him, barking, snarling and furiously trying to bite into the smiling Kiba's neck.

"Good ol' Mom!"

xXxXxXx

**A/N:** - Please feel free to look at my forum for information regarding this or any of my other stories and I apologize for being late. This omake is something of an apology for that.

Paladeus


	6. Ripples in the Pond of Time

**Title:** Reforging The Past

**Chapter6 – **Ripples in the Pond of Time

**Ship:** Naruto/Hina, Naru/Harem, Naru/Hina/Ino/FemHaku/FemKyuu, Anko/Kurenai

**Author:** Paladeus

**Key:** "Speech", **"Demonic Speech"**, _'Thought'_, _**'Demonic Thought'**_

xXxXxXx

**[A/N:]** Orochimaru is NOT a pedophile in this story, but I may hint at it for the humor it can bring. The information Kakashi gets from his 'reliable source' is actually true.

A bit of this story is based on character development and personalities as opposed to simple plot that is gone through without knowing what the characters are feeling and thinking. That is why there will be so much character development. While I realize this isn't exactly something a lot of people like to read about (particularly those requesting I get to the smut,) I think it makes for a much better story. **Fear not!** There shall be TONNES of action when the effects of their fiddling with time kick in and changes are made and things begin to stop going so easy for our two time-traveling heroes.

Sorry for the delay. The Kensei arc is not meant to be a big arc, but merely highlighting how changes have already taken place and hinting at possible memory issues after having gone so far back and raising the problem of relying on particular memories. I kept trying to think of ways to make it bigger and longer, never quite satisfied with it, but it is not meant to be long or important. Just introduce other ideas and concepts.

**Recommended Story of the Chapter:** "Sit Upon the Frozen Heavens" by James D. Fawkes (Naru/Hina/Ten)

**xXx** – Previously – **xXx**

"_Yes. We found a little girl in the closet of our house while we were searching it. She had hidden in the closet and was literally scared to death," he said. He had thought he was over this long ago, but for some reason, his body was not reacting the way it used to. His shoulders shook slightly and it took almost everything he had to not cry._

"_Shh," Hinata cooed into his ear and squeezed his hand gently. "We can stop all of that from happening again, Naru-kun. We just have to make sure we don't like him get the same kind of power he had before we came back." Unknown to both Genin, Anko and Kurenai suddenly both had similar thoughts and looked at each other, silently communicating. Things just got really complicated._

**xXx** – STORY – **xXx**

Ino watched the byplay between Naruto and Hinata as the village came into view. Normally, she would have wanted to get a good look at the village itself first thing as it came into view, but she had already been focused on the two of them and their odd personality quirks compared to what she had once thought she knew of them. Not to mention the way they would change from open and flirting like newlyweds to appearing to be the same as she would expect, but much more guarded.

Since the formation of the team, she had noticed that they were both very different from how she knew them in the Academy, both in personality and the general way they held themselves. They were close now. Very close, actually. Before graduating, or rather a month before, Hinata was all but a personality recluse. She was always withdrawn and gathered in on herself as if afraid to be seen and noticed. Her infatuation with Naruto was as painfully obvious as her guiding fear of upsetting others or being the center of the attentions around her.

Now, however, along with the time they had been a team together, Hinata was more confident than even Ino herself, or Sakura, or any other girls their age, which confused Ino greatly. The girl's self-confidence was allowing her to speak with and, as Ino remembered several times a day, do naughty things with the object of her desires. The Hyuuga heiress even had the inclination of talking dirty to Naruto right in front of the rest of the team! Granted, Kurenai-sensei put Naruto under a genjutsu that had him terrified to even look at Hinata for the rest of the day, but it was the principal of the matter. Hinata was naughty!

Even now, something was obviously upsetting Naruto and Hinata was on his side, providing comfort and support with hugs and gentle whisperings into his ears. While Ino did not yet know the trick of channeling chakra to various parts of the body to enhance them, as Kurenai and Anko were currently doing, she could tell that whatever was upsetting Naruto was big. Small things just did not phase the boy. She had learned and come to respect that aspect of him recently.

If she was going to be fully honest with herself, Ino would have to admit that Naruto was actually a completely different guy than what she had believed him to be. That was not totally true, actually. It was more that many of the things she had mentally scorned him for and found distasteful were somehow uniquely Naruto and things she had honestly come to admire in him. Admittedly, he was still an odd cookie, but she had time to herself two days before and she had taken the time to think of all of the boys she could have been put on a team with and was finding herself pleased and grateful it was Naruto.

Inuzuka Kiba was a pretty decent guy as a whole, but he was a well-known pervert, almost always trying to peek on the girls in the locker room and had a very abrasive personality. Not to mention he always smelled like dog. Usually _wet_ dog. While Naruto was apparently something of a pervert, he only became that person in private with Hinata, who Ino noticed was usually the instigator, the little minx. That girl had shocked Ino thoroughly when she noticed that side of the once-submissive Hyuuga. Well, Hinata still seemed submissive sometimes, but it was obvious it was only for show. That girl had Naruto wrapped around her little finger.

Chouji and Shikamaru were both great friends, but lazy as all hell. The only time they worked at anything was for food or to deal with less nagging respectively, though both were willing to stand up and fight for their friends if the situation called for it. It took Hinata to keep Naruto from constantly training himself into the ground. Still, he was willing to help Ino better herself outside of usual team training, which she would only have expected from Kiba, if he thought it could help him in some way. None of the other Genin would have been as willing to help her train and better herself.

Uchiha Sasuke. That was a failed dream she had hoped with all of her heart and used every good luck charm and ritual she could think of or find in hopes of being on his team to make a reality. He was smart, good looking, talented and could kick ass.

Then she got onto a team with Naruto and Hinata and was forced to reevaluate everything she had known. The structure of her team was out of the ordinary in that it was two girls and one boy instead of two boys and one girl; two sensei instead of the normal one and two teammates whose personalities were different as night and day compared to what she expected. All said and done, she had decided to look at everything in her life in the same unbiased view and had surprised herself with her findings.

While looking at the last Uchiha from a non-biased point of view, she realized he really was among the best in their class, but that he had been receiving private lessons and help for a long time since so many people were sucking up or kissing his ass, for lack of better terms. He knew a high level jutsu, but it was a signature move for Uchiha that they were taught at a younger age than most and was just about his only real jutsu aside from the basics and he had a personality that just screamed 'I love only myself'.

It was actually very sad when she thought about it.

Naruto and Hinata both seemed to know a few high level jutsu as well, and seemed to have far greater control, so it was not as great a feat as she had seen it to be in the past. It did upset her a little to still feel as though she were lagging behind. Still, she thought there may have been some hope for the boy if he could only be given a bit of humanity. She just was not sure if he had any left. Naruto's past, from what she could tell, had been far worse and he was the best guy she knew.

Looking at her home life, she realized that her father was an upper-level Jounin in Konoha because of his abilities in the field, which also meant he could easily be killed at any time with the high-risk missions he was given. The Yamanaka excelled in all forms of mind arts and had a very large repertoire of offensive and defensive jutsu compared to what most people would expect them to have, but she had been shown only the easiest and most basic of techniques and was not even allowed to know much of the rest until she was allowed to learn to use them. Truth be told, she did not even know what the advanced techniques really were as no one was allowed to know about them since they were labeled clan secrets. Ino was not allowed to know about them in fear she would get chatty about them, which she had to admit was somewhat likely. She would have been offended if most of their techniques did not build off of the fundamentals from the mind body switching technique. It upset her a little that her father would not teach her to perfect the jutsu, but he was constantly telling her that learning it on her own was the real key in using the others effectively.

"Is this Kensei?" Ino asked after turning her attention to Juntou. She filed away her observations and mental notes until she had a chance to go over them again later.

"Yes," Juntou said with a smile, "it is. It isn't much, but it's home." Ino smirked at the older boy's near reverence of his village. She heard the same tone coming from Naruto and Hinata in the two weeks she had spent with them.

"Enough, Juntou. We need to let them do their thing. The boys may know how to survive in the forest, but that doesn't mean that they haven't gotten themselves into trouble," Joga said. While it was true that children were taught to survive at a young age, they were also kids. That meant that they were prone to get themselves into trouble. A full day alone could cause them to allow their emotions to get the better of them.

"Sorry Joga," Juntou said.

Joga pointed to the forest to the east side of the village before looking at the Jounin in charge. "The kids will usually play in that part of the forest. It's a favorite spot because it's close to the village and has a series of natural caverns and waters that they enjoy on occasion, but they know to play in the shallow areas. The kids play in that area so much that any tracks you find may be old. The children play there far too much for anything to be followed properly," Joga stated, admitting the largest reason they could not track the children themselves.

"Not a problem," Kurenai said as they all continued their trek down and into the village. "We'll see if there are any updates and then head up our search." After speaking, the group began their trek into the village with Naruto taking a deep, steadying breath first. Kurenai and Anko had silently agreed to get the mission completed as quickly as possible so they could plan for the best way to question Naruto and Hinata about the odd conversation they had just held together.

Ino was looking forward to seeing another village outside of Konoha, even a small one such as this.

xXxXxXx

Orochimaru had seen and experienced many things in his admittedly long life. He had a danger sense that rivaled anything in nature and even most things not in nature, excepting those creatures of a higher power than himself. And he had been taking many steps to shorten that gap tremendously.

When he first perfected his body switching technique to the level it was currently at, he gained something of a sixth sense that rivaled even what he had before. In the past month or so, that sixth sense had been flaring up to levels that kept the power-hungry sannin off his guard and constantly in search of something out of the ordinary.

Now was just one of those times.

"You have news for me, Karin?" He stated more than asked, having a strong sense of deja vu.

"Yes, Orochimaru-sama. I have-"

"Extremely good news, yes?" He interrupted her as he steepled his fingers together and looked down at his chief medic. She had always been such an able creature, and so devoted to her work. Her skillful manipulations and artistry on her subjects was truly amazing, sometimes. He knew most people saw her creations, or even his own, as grotesque monsters and abominations, but they failed to realize that he was making things better. Better humans; stronger, faster, more resilient and with faster healing. He, and his chief medic, were creating true masterpieces of work out of the plain and boring of the average human. They needed better ninja to fight off against their enemies and survive, did they not?

Hypocritical bastards.

"Indeed, Orochimaru-sama. Your intuition is impressive as always," the red-headed woman said with surprise evident in her voice. "The changes you requested three weeks ago to the Cursed Seal have had an extreme improvement on the survival rate of its hosts from ten percent to thirty percent, just as you said it would. Not only that, but the power differential is five percent higher as well, giving us more control than before."

Orochimaru knew this to be. How he knew, he was not sure, but he had no doubt in his orders to her three weeks previous. He had suddenly had a profound insight for the changes that were needed to the seal and what affect they would have on the subject hosts that would house the seal. It had been one of the only things he had been so sure about regarding specific information, rather than a sense of surety or dread in the varying situations that he found himself in after making up his mind and committing to a course of action. While he had not been following these feelings too much since they were not much different than his standard levels of confidence, they felt ... _different_ ... some how, leading him to suspect he may very well find himself needing to pay more attention to them.

"As I suspected they would. Now, tell me what you originally planned when you came here," he said silkily. These feelings of his were telling him to feel happiness and joy, and he was listening to them to test their limits, seeing where they would take him.

"One of our upper-level spies has told us that the Konoha council is pressing for the Uchiha's participation in the upcoming Chuunin Exams and that Sharingan Kakashi already had plans to enter him as an excuse for one-on-one training," Karin told her master from her kneeling position on the floor. Orochimaru scared her when he was like this. He was a leader that she loved working under regarding her medical experiments, as he allowed her anything she wanted to experiment with, but he was a frightening one. Karin was so very close to the cure she had been attempting to find for the past eight years, and while Orochimaru was the purest form of evil, he was the means to an end. One that let her in on everything so she could take all of his research and possibly atone for her crimes under him.

"This pleases me, Karin. Take one hundred of the test subjects and increase the production rates for our enhanced soldiers. I want a group of them battle-ready for the festivities that approach us. Ku ku ku!" Orochimaru laughed quietly as his plans coalesced in his mind. He knew to be more prepared than he had previously anticipated and, while that was not the sensation he got from his odd little foresight situation, it was putting him on guard enough to decide to go with it since the survival rate had just tripled for his minions. That was three times as many survivors! Or, as he was hoping, the same number of survivors out of three times as many people. Whatever it took for the sake of science and all that.

That, and flinging the eyeballs of those who did not make it at the children in the streets was always _so_ much fun! And it herded them right where he wanted them...

"And tell Tayuya that her mission has the go ahead. I have already briefed her, so she knows what she is to do."

"As you command, Orochimaru-sama. Is there anything else you require of me?"

"No. However, for your excellent work, you may take a full day this week to focus on your private experiments. Leave me."

"Thank you, Orochimaru-sama." Karin immediately rose and walked out of the room. Sticking around once dismissed was not something any of Orochimaru's veteran subordinates took long to learn. Or taking one's time when summoned.

_'These ... impulses, or feelings of deja vu are getting to be quite interesting, ku ku ku! Still, though. What could be the cause of them?'_ He wondered to himself. Orochimaru thought very highly of himself, but even he was not conceited enough to believe it was some godlike intervention or the like. He had not tried to enhance himself for nearly a year.

The concept of time travel was a thing shrouded in mystery and theories. The power requirements to perform any time traveling were so vast that only the most powerful of creatures could even think to do such a thing. The Kyuubi had been such a creature, being old enough and intelligent enough to understand ways of cheating the system to lessen the power required and understand the mechanics to going backwards and not creating a paradox, or infinite and repeated time loop.

Or the complete destruction of the entire universe, but who was really worried that would happen? She felt she would die either way and, if it succeeded, she would live. Therefore, it did not matter if she died. At least she would have the consolation of taking out every other creature with her.

The thing that Orochimaru was not able to understand, and had no reason to contemplate or anticipate, was that his body switching jutsu was a form of immortality, even if not a perfect form of it. It was when one took into account the very nature of time, space and that immortality that those such as Orochimaru and true immortals found themselves in after an event as big as reversing time, or in this case, cheating the system due to power restrictions to do something similar, but far less difficult than altering the entirety of the universe.

Orochimaru's soul, or essence, had been a part of the way out of the flow of time in thanks to his body switching jutsu. While he was still limited to controlling mortal bodies, he had studied demons, which lived in a different form of time and space than the humans, and his soul had to recover after each transfer to keep itself from shattering, it was enough of a displacement to allow that part of him to not be bound by altering time. Much like putting one's toe into water from a bathtub and then pulling it out while emptying the tub as if it had never been filled, leaving the toe wet and using past experiences to determine how comfortable the temperature was, it was as if his soul's big toe was wet with remnants of the other him.

This was the part of him that was giving feedback to Orochimaru now. Not telling him what to do or what had happened as his previous self was not fully outside of time, but memories of strong emotions tied to how events played out at any given time, if they were important enough to him to affect him strongly at the time, and some events tied to it that were to come.

While this would normally be seen as a good thing in comparison to nothing, except maybe true memories, Orochimaru was being his inquisitive and testing self, poking and prodding this bit of wet toe like one of his experiments into learning everything he could from it and learning to anticipate himself and the events around him.

"Orochimaru-sama," a guard from the entrance spoke, breaking the snake sannin's thoughts, "the Kazekage has arrived. Would you like me to see him in?"

Orochimaru smiled wickedly as he explored the sensation of glee and satisfaction he gained from that odd feeling that pressed in on him. "Yes, I believe you should." Orochimaru resisted the urge to rub his hands together and giggle.

xXxXxXx

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No, damn it! Now get the hell away from Kakashi-sensei before I get vicious!" Sakura held her kunai in a firm backhanded grip in front of her as her eyes blazed like fire. The two pea pods of men in front of her were trying to get her sensei to go running around the village now that the smaller pod had managed to get awakened and find them. She was not sure how they had already managed to get the outfit on him, as he was _supposed_ to be a near legend in the shinobi world, after all. She was not even going to admit to having noticed the bright orange 'Flames of Youth' spread about her sensei's bottom. Some things were better left unnoticed in the world.

Right now, however, Kakashi was hiding behind Sasuke and Kiba was pointing and laughing at his sensei.

"Oh man! I say we let them have him! We can't be seen following him around when he looks like that!" Kiba rolled over in his laughter and barely refrained from rolling over his own puppy. "Flames of youth!" Kiba erupted into another fit of laughter.

"You know, Kiba," Kakashi said as he maneuvered himself to stay behind the last Uchiha, who was beginning to feel like he was evading a fangirl after his backside, only better at it. "I can very easily hire you to take a bath." The Inuzuka heir stopped abruptly and stared in shock and sheer terror at his sensei before quickly taking a defensive position next to his pink-haired teammate and growled viciously at the duo in front of him as Akamaru moved to the side.

"I hate you, Kakashi-sensei. I really do," Kiba growled out, ignoring Kakashi's eye smile.

"That's been an option this entire time!" Sakura screeched. "Why the hell haven't we done it yet!"

"Eternal Rival! The flames of youth within your Genin shine brightly! However, I shall not take no for an answer!" Maito Gai smiled at the wary Kakashi and flicked his wrist at Team Seven. "Lee! Take them out!"

"YOSH!" Rock Lee struck a pose, the shiny ping of his teeth blinding the Genin of Team Seven long enough to allow him to move beyond their ability to see and knock each one of them out before showing up exactly where he had begun in the same pose. "Mission accomplished, Gai-sensei!" Kakashi's single eye widened comically as he realized there was more to that creepy action than he had thought.

"Very good, Lee! As your reward, you may run around Konoha as fast as you can five times!" Almost immediately and in a frightening euphoric glee, Lee was gone, leaving a dispersing afterimage who's teeth left a final ping of light in his wake with a fading cry of 'YOSH!'.

"It should be labeled as a crime for what you've done to that boy, Gai," Kakashi mumbled from behind the unconscious Uchiha he was holding like a shield in front of him. Kakashi refused to ponder on exactly why the Uchiha heir felt the need to cover his baby-making regions with both hands while unconscious.

"This is your last warning, Kakashi," Gai warned, all traces of humor and good will gone in his serious and somber attitude. "As of this moment, if you don't stop this useless fight against my methods, I will make your resistance known to the village in hopes it will find whoever has put you on the correct path, and I will even warn the kunoichi of this village well in advance of that. Do you understand me?" Gai watched as Kakashi sighed and let the Uchiha heir drop to the ground at his feet with a stoicism that would have made his own Hyuuga Genin proud of his sensei.

"Gai, I understand forcing me to work out with you in the mornings and not allowing me to have any access to pornographic materials outside of my Icha Icha books, and thanks for that concession by the way," Kakashi said, stroking his orange book in its pocket almost lovingly. "But why are you forcing me to dress like this? Why am I being forced to let people see me in this?"

"Because you took advantage of those women while they were naked, Kakashi. You forced your perverse natures upon them and stole those vulnerable times from them. While this is not even close to the vile acts you have done, it is a sign of humility for you to dress in this manner. You spar and work out with Lee and I in the mornings to better yourself both as a person and physically so that you may become the true legend you are recognized as." Gai looked up into the sky at the birds flying about as Kakashi moved his students and puppy to resting positions. "Atonement, Kakashi, is the whole reason. Lee and I use these outfits because they are among the few materials that can withstand the stress, speed, friction, wear and rigorous activities that we perform as taijutsu experts; not because they are so stylish. You shall wear them because you look ridiculous. Do you understand?"

Kakashi had to admit, Gai was brutally honest if nothing else. Well, sadistic too, but that was beside the point. As a certified genius, he could also see underlying reasons that Gai would do this type of a thing. "And this has nothing to do with the fact that I can't reinforce the pants and, therefore, cannot hide any potential, er ... _problems_ ... that may _arise_ when I come into those situations that you ordered me to stay out of, I take it?" Kakashi, even as a seasoned veteran of war and countless assassination attempts, was unable to stop the shudder of revulsion and fear that spread throughout his body as Gai's sadistic smile slowly spread across his face. He would be meeting many an angered female knee in the coming weeks, months if he was really unlucky.

"An unspoken motivational tool, Kakashi-san!"

_'Unspoken motivational tool my ass,'_ Kakashi thought to himself. _'If a woman sees me staring with a hard-on, I'm as good as bludgeoned to death!'_ Silently, he swore to himself he would be getting underwear woven out of stainless steel fibers. He had heard from a reliable author of a highly-distinguished source of erotic literature that it both protected, _and_ felt like silk.

If the ANBU kunoichi still carried as many kunai as they used to, he'd need all the protection he could get.

xXxXxXx

"Alright you three, we've got about four hours before nightfall, so I want Naruto to make a bunch of clones for a wide search of the woods while each of you go with one group." Kurenai and Anko had come to a mutual decision to hold off questioning Naruto and Hinata until after the children had been found. If something had happened that they would prefer to run rather than talk, they did not want to give the two Genin the opportunity to do so while they had no way of keeping an eye on them.

"Sensei," Ino asked nervously, "should we really be splitting up like that? I don't mean to question you, but we've only been together for two weeks and don't really know the terrain all that well." Questioning your superior was normally a faux pa that was punishable at the earliest convenience, which was something that had been drilled into them as Academy students since orders sometimes had to be followed as quickly as possible. However, Kurenai-sensei and Anko-sensei had not only been okay with it, but encouraged it for times they did not understand why they were being told, so long as it was not during something that was time sensitive.

"Good question, Ino," Kurenai answered since Anko was coming up with plans for trapping the two intriguing Genin once the children were found. "Normally, we wouldn't split you up since you _are_ fresh Genin, but you will have a large number of Naruto clones and we we're primarily checking to see if we can find tracks further out than the villagers have had a chance to check and have a huge number of Naruto clones calling out for them, the noise is bound to carry."

Ino nodded in thought. She trusted Naruto to help her, but his clones? That was a slight worry. She had seen him use them to spar and they disappeared with a solid hit more often than not. If something came out that could kill them and left her alone, then what?

"Don't worry, Ino-chan," Naruto smiled at her. "When one of my clones dies, I get its memories, so I will know both where you are and that you're in trouble if needed and can spam a huge area with clones to get you some help even faster."

Ino smiled warmly at the other blonde in gratitude for calming her as Hinata looked around to orient herself, trying to remember where she knew the kidnappers would be holding the boys. It had been so long ago for her. She could remember the specifics regarding the who and the what, but not the where. It had been nearly a decade for her and was frustrating her to no end! She could remember poisons and jutsu as if she had just learned them that morning, every single one she had ever known. But she could not remember the specifics of her first mission that was beyond the team's expectations. Perhaps it was because Kurenai had met Asuma during the mission, originally, and that was really the big reason she remembered it?

"Everything okay, Hinata?" Kurenai asked, seeing the frown on the younger girl's face. It was not really something she was used to seeing.

Hinata looked at her original sensei with wide eyes, having forgotten she had even been standing there. "Oh. Yes, Kurenai-sensei. I just wonder _where_ the boys are at. It's bothering me," she said simply.

xXxXxXx

"So, you're wearing that ridiculous outfit because you lost a large bet with the guy with caterpillars over his eyes and it was either wear that or bait as many ANBU level kunoichi as you could in an hour to try and duel you all at once?" Sakura asked as Team Seven walked to old lady Sukomi's place to weed her garden.

"That's about the gist of it, yes," Kakashi said, his fingers twitching towards an empty pocket as he glanced around nervously. He had not realized just how _addicted_ he had truly been to those books until he realized his body had a seemingly constant surge of adrenaline and he was always fidgeting. That, and lying to the smarter one in his group just screamed, 'BAD IDEA, BAKA!' Sadly, without the heavy material of his previous outfit, he was unable to read the books or risk ... reacting ... and alerting every woman near by to his ... presence.

"I suppose that makes sense," she said, looking thoughtful. "But if I may ask, WHY THE HELL DID YOU LEAVE US IN THE TRAINING GROUND UNCONCIOUS! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT KIND OF PERVERTS ARE OUT THERE!" She yelled furiously, her eyes reflecting his death as he stared in one-eyed horror into their depths. Not to mention, he was amongst the pervertist elite. He knew _exactly_ what kinds of them were out there and where they prowled. She would have been absolutely fine until roughly nine that night. _Then_ she would have risked unwanted groping.

"Sakura." Sasuke said flatly, having finally gotten tired of the girl's antics. "We were fine. While what he did was despicable," he glared at the pervert, "we can make sure it won't happen again." What he did not want to say was that he did not think she had anything to worry from perverts.

Kiba stayed silent as he watched Sakura berate their Jounin sensei. He had many of the same thoughts as she did, though he would not have minded the groping as much as she would have, unless maybe it was the same guys, his thoughts were more on his two teammates.

Sasuke was the same brooding bastard as always, though he seemed to sulk a little more. He suspected it was because he was forced to notice now. He also did not realize that it was Kiba who was supposed to be the alpha of this team. He knew how a pack was supposed to work and function. The Uchiha bastard had all the traits of the dogs that had to be put down for turning on the rest of the pack. It did not inspire a lot of trust. And Akamaru hated the boy.

Sakura, however, was his current interest. When he first got on the team, he was a little upset that he did not get a girl with a better figure. After all, most of the other girls in the class had at least _something_ to look at and appreciate. But he settled himself on thinking it would be fun to take the Uchiha's fangirl right out from under him.

It was odd, though. She always seemed to get so disheartened when shot down by her pretty boy and, seeing her sad face, he realized he did not want to deal with that kind of baggage. She was an emotional wreck for a little while afterwards and he hated having to deal with it. Akamaru loved it, always willing to get petted furiously and cuddled almost to the point of popping, the puppy was in heaven.

The little traitor.

xXxXxXx

Ino pressed herself against a tree trunk in the branches as a Naruto clone motioned for her to remain quiet. Most were spread out at roughly ten foot intervals, but this one was next to her and always within arm's reach to keep her feeling secure. She hated the fact that she wanted that, but just could not get past the realization that she was out there in an unknown wood, practically alone and with all sorts of unknown beasties about. While he did not come right out and say he was sticking close on purpose, she was grateful for the thought.

Now, however, they found a small cave dug into the dirt and under a tree's roots that had both boys in it and two younger men within, eating what looked like roasted rabbit off of the large root like a table. "Who are they?" Ino asked quietly as one of the clones popped out of existence to alert the real Naruto.

"I don't know," he replied. "I don't see any real weapons or identifying hitai-ates and they don't walk anything like ninja."

"Walk like ninja?" She asked, confused. Naruto simply nodded and motioned for her to stay quiet again, doing the polite thing of not noticing as she gravitated closer. Instead, recognizing her wariness and need for a close comfort source, he leaned a little closer to her and pointed at the man walking around the two children.

"He just walks around without stepping for stable footholds on the roots or with any grace. He just walks to get from one point to another. Watch the difference between one of the higher ranking ninja and a civilian and you'll see what I mean. Ninja tend to keep their center of gravity low and stable for quick and precise movements when needed. These guys just simply walk. So I don't think they're trained." He paused a moment and grabbed Ino's arm gently. "Don't jump, but Hinata-chan's about to hop on the-"

"You found them," Hinata said as she got on the branch and interrupted him. Naruto simply nodded. "That was quicker than I expected it to be. It almost takes the fun all out of it."

Ino frowned slightly as Naruto released her arm before forgetting it and pointed at the men who were stretching about under the giant tree. "So what, do we just go down and tell them to hand over the kids?"

Hinata shook her head as she searched around with her Byakugan. "No. There are only two down there and I can see two more southwest about a quarter of a mile out. We should wait for Kurenai-sensei and Anko-sensei to get here. They're on their way as well."

The real Naruto came up and took the clone's place next to Ino while the doppleganger hopped away and dispersed, giving his knowledge to his creator. "Okay, two inside and two in the distance. Any others you're aware of, Hina-chan?"

"No," the dark-haired girl said with a frown. There had been more of them than four the last time, and nothing they had done should have altered that in any way. "Anko and Kurenai will be here in a few seconds," she continued, seeing a clone leading them in. Silently, Hinata flashed through a few hand signs taught to her and Naruto after the war had really picked up by Tenzou, the last user of the vaunted wood bloodline, though he had been known to them as 'Yamato' at the time; an ANBU coach Tsunade had assigned to them for a quick and dirty tutorial on the things the more advanced ranks knew that had, up to that point when they were getting desperate, been denied to them after they began going on high-profile missions with those higher ranked ninja.

Naruto watched the ANBU code being signaled by Hinata's hand and nodded slightly, getting that things were just as she remembered regarding the boys, their captors and numbers. She was unable to remember how many there had been originally, though, and thought there had been more than four.

"I don't understand what you mean by their walking," Ino said after studiously watching the two men under the large roots. She knew the difference between how men and women walked; there was nothing to question about that. A woman's walk was one of the first ways to attract a man after making sure to look absolutely fabulous, but one's center of gravity and difference between a shinobi and civilian? She had never even considered such a thing.

"I'll take you to see what he means later," Hinata said. "We can request permission from Kurenai-sensei or Anko-sensei to invite some of their higher-ranking friends to show us. They are about to be here, though, so let's wait." The pale-eyed girl pointed up and to the side for Ino's benefit as a Naruto clone led their two sensei directly to them.

"What have we got?" Kurenai asked, looking to where Hinata pointed below them.

"Ino found them. There are two adult males who appear to have little to no combat training with the children and two in the distance locating some additional food. The children do not appear harmed in any way and they appear to be getting fed before the men themselves eat or they have already eaten and waited to feed the boys."

"Good job, girls," Anko said, smirking as she heard Naruto grumble about being outnumbered by the fairer sex. "What do you think, Kurenai? Go put the beat down on 'em and snag the kids while the other two are away?"

Kurenai took a moment to observe the men before looking towards her students. This was obviously not the usual with the boys running off, but they had nothing to say for sure that the men had not just simply found the boys first and were trying to help. "Hinata, how far out are the other two?"

Hinata blushed lightly as she realized she had not reported that to her superiors, only Naruto and Ino. "Approximately a quarter mile out and searching for wild game."

The Genjutsu Mistress of Konoha nodded and decided to see what her Genin thought. "Well, what do you think we should do? As Anko suggests and beat the men up and take the kids or something else and why?"

Ino sighed as this turned into yet another learning experience, but was happy at the same time. It would only help her, she knew, to learn from two of the better kunoichi in Konoha. "I say we do it. They've obviously got the kids for some reason and the longer they are in their custody, the higher the risk of the kids getting hurt." She looked to Anko, who smiled and looked ready to follow through and then to Kurenai who was simply observing her right back.

"Hinata? Naruto? What about you two?"

Hinata shook her head, keeping an eye out for the others she was almost positive were around somewhere. "There is nothing to truly suggest the children are being held captive. They are not tied up and the men with them, at least, are feeding the children rather than eating anything at all themselves. They could be simply traveling through and have found the children."

Kurenai nodded once to concede Hinata's point and then turned to Naruto. "And you? What do you think?"

Naruto almost blurted out that he knew they were kidnapped before he realized it was Hinata's knowledge he was thinking of and instead shrugged. "The fact we're so far out and it's nearly the end of the second day without the adults down there trying to get the kids home gives more credence to Ino's plan while the boys talking and smiling leans more heavily to Hinata-chan's. I think the best thing to do is go in with caution and maybe try to get between the kids and the men before the other two show up so that they're safe if it actually comes to fighting. But with a lack of hitai-ate and visible weapons, the risk factor seems to be pretty low."

Naruto smiled as he saw Kurenai smirk and Anko pout. The Special Jounin was always ready and willing to beat up the enemy, even more so when they were men, claiming it was more fun when they underestimated her for being a woman. But he had nothing else he could really say that either Ino and Hinata had not already said, so just put the whole situation in perspective.

"That would seem like the best plan, yes. But do you have any idea how you think we should go through with it?" She asked, looking at the whole team.

Ino held up her index finger, having an idea. "Well, Naruto can send a few of his clones in to get the kids out, or we can just have all of his clones henge into other ninja so they think they're horribly outnumbered and just give up. He's already got them around, so it would be pretty minor to make them all look different."

Anko sighed. "And here I was hoping you'd be the one to wanna put the beat down on a couple of guys."

Naruto shuddered. "You _do_ know I'm right here, right?" He was soundly ignored, causing him to grumble again.

Kurenai smiled as she turned to Hinata. "What do you think?"

"I like Ino's idea to use henge on Naruto's clones," she said.

"Naruto?" Kurenai asked, turning to him.

"Works for me," he said with a shrug. "I'll just kawarimi with the boys so they're out of the way."

Quickly coming to a consensus, Naruto had all of his clones henge into various Chuunin and Jounin from the village and the two boys below as best he could tell their features from there. Then, the two fake children kawarimi'd with the real ones in the makeshift shelter from the ground instead of the trees to assure they would not scream from suddenly finding themselves up high and were silenced with a Hinata clone who put a finger to her mouth while the mass of ninja fell from the trees.

"Bloody hell!" One of the men yelled and took up a defensive position in front of the children as his cohort did the same, giving a quick yell for his two wayward buddies out in the forest.

"We are a force from Konoha passing through Kensei who were asked to look for two boys who appear to be behind you," a henge'd Naruto clone called out, looking like Morino Ibiki, the interrogation expert from Konoha. He had been chosen because, as good as the man was at his art, he looked scary as hell. "Release them or we will use force get them from you."

"Don't hurt them!" The two real boys called out, running forward several feet before the Hinata clone stopped them. "Don't hurt them! They're nice!"

"The hell?" One of the men under the roots asked as he questioned his sanity. He looked from the boys outside to the ones behind him who grinned and poofed away in a cloud of smoke.

Kurenai stepped forward as some clones brought in three other men from the forest. The boys certainly did not act like prisoners, and it was certainly far too soon for any form of dependency to have developed. "I'm Yuuhi Kurenai. Please keep your hands visible and do not make any sudden movements. Please explain why you had the children with you."

All of the men looked about ready to mess their pants at the number of obvious ninja around them. Only one seemed to have the bravery to speak up, which happened to be the one in charge of the rag tag group. "We're refugees from Mist. We were passing through and found the boys earlier today and were questioning them about their town. They were lost and didn't know where to find it from where we had found them."

The real Naruto frowned and looked to Hinata who looked just as confused as he did. Sadly, this had been a minor mission for her and, aside from having been what she thought was a kidnapping and Kurenai getting together with Asuma, she had little recollection of the mission. She could not, for the life of herself, remember anything about them having been from Mist or simply having found the boys. She was sure she remembered them having kidnapped the boys from just outside the village. With her Byakugan still active, she saw Naruto look at her and quickly signed that she was unable to remember if it was true or not. It was her own misfortune that Anko had excellent peripheral vision and caught the quick communication.

"It's true! They found us in the forest and were asking about the village! Don't hurt them!" The boys struggled in Hinata's clone's arms as they tried to run over to the men who had been feeding them and been so nice to them.

"What were your intentions with being in this area?" Hinata asked, truly wondering why she was remembering things so different. Nothing they had done should have had any affect on this event aside from having a different team and Anko replacing Asuma. Nothing about the men's motives should have changed, surely!

The man who had spoken looked affronted at having been asked while the others turned various shades of red. Whether it was anger or embarrassment, none of them were sure. "As I said, we were fleeing Mist because of the civil war. We're roaming until we can find a place we feel comfortable enough to settle down in and found the children. Are you planning on attacking us, or can you perhaps help them?"

Hinata felt confused as her memories seemed to clash with what was happening, but looked to Kurenai who nodded and spoke up for the team. "We're assigned to return the children to their village. Are you going to remain here or follow us there? We'd be willing to escort you if you wish."

"Actually, we're okay out here. If you can safely see the boys home, we'd appreciate it," the man said, ignoring the cries of protest from the two boys. They had liked the men. They were nice and even cooked them rabbits and snakes! They had never had snake before!

Anko looked at them questioningly, wondering why they would prefer the wilderness, but shrugged it off. "Alright boys! It's time to go home! You're parents are worried sick!"

The two boys stopped their struggles and paled drastically, looking at the five men with pleading eyes. "Er, I don't suppose you could tell them that a bear tried to eat us or something, could you?"

"Yea, they're going to be really mad!"

Anko snorted in amusement while they left, making sure a Naruto clone had each child on its back as they began running through the forest to get back to the village as it was nearing nightfall. "Not a chance, kid. Why were you out this far, anyway?"

"Yamcha wanted to see if we could find the crystal caves!"

"Nuh uh! You did!" Jin retaliated, pointing an accusatory finger at his friend.

"Well, maybe we _both_ did," Yamcha said with a blush. "But we didn't know where they were. Just that we had to find the river and follow it upstream."

As soon as they were far enough away, all of the clones but the ones carrying the boys disappeared in a poof of smoke while the boys gaped in astonishment. The real Naruto and Hinata fell to the back of the pack as Ino began to talk with the boys, curious about the crystal caves and wondering what it was.

"Did you maybe remember something wrong?" Naruto asked carefully as Hinata sighed.

"It's certainly possible. I mean, relatively speaking, it happened about a decade ago. It was really only memorable because Kurenai-sensei and Asuma-san got together at that time and the boys were, or I thought they were, kidnapped. But I do remember Shino drained all of the men of chakra and we had bound them and taken them to the village." She shrugged helplessly, not sure what else to say.

"Maybe they just lied, then. I don't know. We'll just let the villagers know what happened and that their story sounded weak enough that they could have been lying."

"Yes, if they had been telling the truth, then they would have probably come to visit the village," Hinata responded, grabbing Naruto's hand and squeezing as they ran, feeling an urge for his touch as Anko and Kurenai spoke ahead of everyone else, keeping their senses on alert for anyone who may come up on them.

"I saw it as plain as day, Kurenai. Hinata was using ANBU stealth signs and telling Naruto something about not remembering something."

"Anko, it is illegal to teach that code to someone outside of the ANBU ranks. How would she learn it? How would Naruto learn it, for that matter?" Looking over at her lover, Kurenai could not resist the follow-up question. "Even more, how do _you_ know it?"

"You know how. That snake bastard taught me so I could emulate one if needed. He taught me a few signs of most village's sign language that he knew, but he only knew Konoha's, so he made sure I knew it."

"And Hinata and Naruto? What about them?" Kurenai asked. "I know they have a lot of odd knowledge, and that little conversation earlier had some ... suggestive phrases that are just odd as hell to think about, but anyone who taught them that would be stripped of their ninja status and jailed if not outright classified as a threat to security and tried for treason by letting out a village secret, even if it is just code signals."

"I don't know," Anko said quietly. "But are we going ahead with our plan anyway?"

Kurenai nodded. "I see no reason as to why not. This is as good of a time as any while we're outside the village and Hokage-sama has already authorized it."

Anko grinned ferally, finally ready to see some sort of action. "Tonight then."

xXxXxXx

She watched him perform his kata in the training ground, moving slowly and carefully. Just as their spy had stated, Uchiha Sasuke had gone straight from missions with his team to the training ground he was now in and trained his taijutsu where he thought no one would bother him since it was heavily trapped against rogue fangirls.

With a snort, Tayuya leapt out and sent a slow kunai towards the Uchiha, causing him to reflexively leap away and to the side where he flipped in midair and took a defensive stance across from her as she landed.

"Who are you and why are you attacking me?" He asked angrily, getting a derisive snort form the girl as she cocked her head to the side. He quickly took in her appearance; limp and raggy clothes, short red hair that was dirty and unkempt, but a lithe body that was obviously kunoichi-trained. She had a holster on her thigh and a flute attached at her hip. She had to be the ugliest fangirl he had ever met!

Instead of answering, the girl smirked and leapt at the younger boy, moving relatively slowly and testing his current skill, almost immediately scoring a hit on his shoulder and causing him to leap back again.

Both took defensive stances as Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the interloper. Whoever she was, she apparently thought highly of herself for scoring a glancing blow. Without a moment's hesitation, he rushed her and began to attack, sending a punch straight for her head, causing the girl to duck and sweep her leg around.

Sasuke flipped sideways and brought his heel down where her head had been, but she was already behind him in the air and elbowed him in the side, sending him sprawling to the ground where he rolled and kicked up, leaping back to his feet as she landed.

Both combatants studied each other for a few moments, a smirking redhead and her scowling opponent. After a few seconds, his eyes lit up and he smirked, both readying for the next volley. The wind picked up and as soon as it died, they attacked again.

Sasuke was not an idiot. Yes, he had received a lot of attention during the Academy, but he was Rookie of the Year for a good reason. He had become that good. It did not matter that he got more instruction than anyone else as results were what mattered. He was astute enough to realize that this woman was a trained kunoichi and was holding back drastically against him. But more than that, he was able to recognize that she was only holding back enough to keep him pressing hard and she would raise her own fighting ability to match him. The first few rounds showed him that as she went from no threat to almost being more than he could handle.

She did not squeal like a tortured pig about how perfect he was. She did not talk about how she was going to win his love because she was more beautiful than the competition, though he did not think she would ever try that one if she was willing to be seen by him in her current appearance. She did not even talk, which suited him better than fine. She just attacked.

The smirk left his face as he took the ready stance for the offensive side of the Uchiha taijutsu forms. Whoever this was, she was not trying to kill him. She could have done that already if she had wanted to. He knew this. She was giving him a powerful sparring partner. That deserved the respect of putting his full attention into it lest he risk losing that. As the dirty, tattered, stinky right foot of his attacker knocked him upside the left side of his head, he suddenly decided he liked this version of the cat and mouse game.

A pity his fangirls never learned that.

xXxXxXx

"You mean to tell me that you tried to find the crystal caves, so you disobeyed the rules and went into the forest and got lost? What were you thinking!" Karen asked, waving around a large, wooden spoon as if it were a scepter while Tsume, the mother of Yamcha was busy looking for her husband's belt. Both young boys and Naruto watched the thing as if it were the hand of Kami, reading to come down and smite them all. In their defense, it was often used to paddle their bottoms when they had done something wrong.

Naruto just had a thing for eating out of the bowl before Hinata was done with it.

"We're sorry!" Jin wailed. "We just wanted to see it!"

"We've told you it doesn't exist anymore! It collapsed ages ago! You are in _so_ much trouble young man!"

As Karen pulled Jin across her lap to dispense the proper justice, and promising Yamcha that his turn was next, Naruto took shelter behind Hinata as Anko told the team their next move. "Alright you lot. Hokage-sama gave us permission for a short outing after we finished the mission so long as the mission was successfully completed. Since it was, we're going to trek out tomorrow morning and spend the day learning to move while disguising our tracks and randomly set up and take down camp until we've got it down to a science! Understood?"

"Yes, Anko-sensei," three unimpassioned voices said as one, causing the snake user to laugh.

"I know, it isn't fun. Trust me, I had to do it before, too. But all the same, it's a skill you need to know. We don't really know when we'll next be out of the village and, simply put, we can never be too sure when we'll have the time to have a whole week to train with like this."

"Is this why you asked us to pack for a week, even though we were only looking for a couple of brats?" Naruto asked. Had he been closer to the still-angry mother, he probably would not have phrased it quite like that, but it was hard to break habits.

"Well, yes and no. It is why we specified it, but you should always pack for at least a week unless you need to move quickly and lightly. With your storage seals, there should be no reason we can't always make sure to pack enough for at least a week," Anko replied. Really, she was not sure why storage seals were not covered in the Academy. They were so useful it was ridiculous.

"Naruto always has a scroll filled with items I may need for a month," Hinata said with a smile. "He's got everything from clothes, weapons, water, food, feminine hygienic items and toiletries, plus a few things for himself."

Ino blushed as she realized she had not thought to bring anything a woman may find useful on what basically amounted to a camping trip. She mentally made a note to go out and get a very large number of all of those things when they returned and to get her father to create a scroll for her own use and was half way through her list when Hinata continued.

"He actually made a scroll like that for all of us."

Anko blinked, impressed despite herself. "That'll come in handy. Thanks, Naruto." She actually carried her own items, sealed onto her person ever since that incident where she had bowel issues during a border patrol. _'That reminds me! I need to get the little bastard back for that!'_

Naruto's heightened danger sense kicked in, causing him to look around quickly for a threat as Anko grinned and spun on her heel, walking towards the center of Kensei. A gaggle of giggling children approached from the other side of the street, wanting to see the young ninja up close. Whispering furiously, the four larger ones pushed the tiniest of the five forward, a tiny little girl who blushed as the three Genin looked on.

"Em, we wan know if you wan pway whiff uth," she said with an adorable little lisp, causing Hinata to go starry-eyed and Ino to clutch her hands to her chest and squee. There was something about a cute, four-year old little girl that struck the fluff receptors in a woman's genetic make-up. It was right up there with beautiful clothes, fluffy animals and romance and it was impossible to remove once they got their evil little hooks into them.

"Of course we'll play with you!" Ino said loudly, running over and picking up the little girl who screamed happily while the other children mobbed Hinata and Naruto, the latter of which went down screaming about little monsters and their wriggly fingers.

xXxXxXx

Sasuke watched the woman leap into the tree line and disappear without a word. The entire time she had been there, she had not spoken a word. She did not use any jutsu or any weapons beyond that first kunai to alert him to her presence, but he felt very accomplished at that moment. He was bloody, bruised, soaking in sweat and panting, but he had not had such a good workout or sparring partner since ... ever, really. Most adults who sparred against him held back and allowed him to score hits to make him feel better or did not fight as strongly as they could because they did not want to harm him.

This woman was a bloody sadist! With every hit, his anger rose and her grin widened. He had never fought an opponent like her before. She did not try and keep his pride intact, and actually seemed to take a perverse pleasure out of smacking him around. Simply put, she confused and infuriated him.

As soon as she was out of sight, he rested his elbows on his knees and gasped for breath, pleased to have held out with fighting almost full out for the past hour. Kakashi had told him to practice his katas and to try to keep his forms perfect while getting faster and faster. This woman, whoever she was, was no fangirl. She was a serious kunoichi that ... he had no idea what her deal was. But if it meant he finally had a serious sparring partner, what did it matter? Sure, she was a woman, but she fought more seriously than anyone else.

Sasuke leaned back and cracked his spine with a grunt before walking home, slower than he normally would. It was as much in residual pain as thinking about this new little twist. He just had his ass handed to him thoroughly, and he enjoyed it.

It was nothing abnormal in comparison to everyone else. There was no odd sense of sexual or physical gratification about it. He was just simply thrilled to have a challenge. To have someone who would not coddle him and would instead kick his ass. She she pulled something new on him, and tried it another time or two to be sure he was unsure of how to fend against it, she would show him the move much slower, giving him the chance to practice it against her. Then, she showed him the counter. He learned more in the last hour than he had in the last two years at the Academy.

As he closed his apartment door and stepped through to the living room, he stopped short and stared at a small box on his table, mentally cursing the creation known as 'fangirls' and wondering how they got through his traps. That, and lock picking was not a standard art taught in the Academy. Too much room for abuse later in life for those who failed to become ninja.

Seeing a note under the corner of the box, and being too curious about who made it in without setting off the traps, he snatched it and read.

_Your taijutsu sucks! But it was fun to beat the hell out of a guy who doesn't try and chalk it up to going easy on me. In the box is something my Master thought might help you out. He's heard of you and wanted me to see if you were worth the stories we have heard of you. You're not, but you can be. So I'll see you again and, if you keep your mouth shut, we can see how good you can get._

It was not signed, and Sasuke smirked. It was like her to not sign her name. She did not need to say who she was. He knew.

Sasuke looked into the box, a shimmer of amusement in the deep recesses of himself somewhere. It had been a very long time since he was actually not completely opposed to receiving something from another being. Those who usually tried were usually attempting to suck up and feed off of his dregs in society. Either they wanted to be known by him or associated with him. Those people, those mindless sycophants, were nothing to him. They only wanted to use him. Here, he was able to appreciate a gift without needing to worry about what they wanted in return. At least not yet.

With a grunt of surprise, Sasuke pulled out four small bracers made of a dark, black metal that were only an inch wide and an eighth of an inch thick with intricate carvings along the outside he could recognize as active seals and thick leather bands attached on the inside like the cuffs on hospital beds, just not as obvious.

Sasuke smirked.

xXxXxXx

"Don't go into the bathement!" A tiny little voice yelled out from the crowd of children and adults who had slowly gathered around Naruto as he got into telling a story after escaping from the clutches of the evil little buggers earlier.

Smiling, Naruto shushed the little girl who hid in Hinata's lap where she, too, was listening to the story with a wave of his hand and continued, "Ina slowly crept down the stairs, one at a time, listening to the dink, dink, dink of the rain water as it dripped into a puddle on the floor. No other sounds could be heard but her own breathing as she swept her flashlight across the floor, trying to find what had made the thump."

One little boy peeked out from his mother's apron after quickly covering himself with it while a third little girl tried to crawl into Ino's lap, her arms already filled with two kids each.

"AHHHH!" Naruto screamed suddenly, causing all of the children and Ino to scream as well, which prompted many of the adults to do the same as their screams spooked them. They stopped as quickly as they could and looked around embarrassedly as they realized that they had become so caught up in the story.

"Suddenly," Naruto yelled out, waving his arms animatedly, "the Swamp Monster crashed through the window of the basement, reaching out to Ina with a gurgling yell!" Under a henge, a Naruto clone rose from the ground and the screams erupted anew before another clone, this time under a henge to look like a cross between Hinata and Ino, popped into existence.

"But Ina was smart! She had a secret weapon against the dreaded Swamp Monster!" Everyone's attention went back to 'Ina' who struck a pose frighteningly similar to two green-clad, taijutsu experts from Konoha to those in the know. Suddenly, a giant salt shaker that was larger than she was popped into existence and she began to try and pour the grainy substance onto the monster, who ran with a girlish scream, much to the children's amusement and laughter.

"Yes! Anyone who could cook knew that salt pulled water from things! It was just like a giant slug!" Several girls eww'd as Naruto mentioned slugs while several boys laughed knowingly. Immediately, 'Ina' began chasing the Swamp Monster around while laughing maniacally and while Naruto continued his story. "Like the villain of a poorly thought out plot, the Swamp Monster ran from Ina, trying to keep its sogginess from being drained by the dreaded salt!"

'Ina' caught the swamp monster and began pouring salt on it as it over exaggerated dying pitifully. As the heroine of the story rose victorious, all of the children clapped and cheered as the bad guy lost. With the story over, the clones popped away and one of the teenagers of the village got dragged up by a well-meaning, younger brother to tell a story.

Naruto sat next to Hinata, almost immediately getting bombarded by a group of children who tried to sit in his lap and crawl under his arms to his and Hinata's amusement. "What did you think, Hina-chan?"

Hinata giggled and smiled beautifully at him. "I think you shouldn't have told a scary one right before they go to bed. But you're still just as good with children as you've always been," she said vaguely and looking at him in a way that gave him pause.

"Oh. Well, you're probably right. Are you okay?"

Hinata nodded and scooted closer to him, bringing a group of children who were latched to her like giggling leeches with her. "Yes. I just look at you interacting with kids and it makes me happy to see how easily you do it."

Naruto was not sure why, but his fight or flight instincts kicked in and he blinked at her. "Ah, well...," he said nervously.

"I want a baby," she said with a straight face.

"What!" Naruto squawked as a few of the kids around them giggled, not really fully understanding and the adults laughed uproariously. Looking around nervously, he was struck with inspiration and he grabbed the smallest child near by and held it out to her with shaking hands. "This one's already house broken!"

Said two-year old giggled as she was held up in front of Hinata. "I'm potty trained!" She promptly kicked Naruto in the shins.

xXxXxXx

"It just bothers me, Naruto-kun," Hinata said, leaning back with a sigh into Naruto's arms in the field they were resting in as they watched the stars. The rest of their team was asleep in Joga's home until they left in the morning. Naruto had always been one to require less sleep than others, partly due to his tenant, but Hinata's mind had been working furiously, trying to figure out why her memories were so different than what they had witnessed on the mission. "I don't know why it was so different. My kage bunshin that I left dispersed and all it saw them doing was making plans for where to run around at and what they planned to do. They didn't talk about stealing from the town or kidnapping the children or anything."

Naruto hugged her close and kissed the nape of her neck lightly, knowing it calmed her down. "Well, did they ever actually admit to that? I mean, you said Shino used his kikai bugs to drain them and you'd taken them to town. Maybe you all just assumed they were guilty of that?"

Hinata sighed and squeezed Naruto's hand. "It's just as possible as anything else. But I thought I remembered this mission so well! I mean, it was so romantic! Sensei and Asuma got together and the boys were with a group of men who wanted to steal from the town. I was positive I remembered that!"

Naruto began to massage her shoulders as she got worked up, getting a contented sigh in return. "Well, everything is okay for now. We warned the adults about them and that's really all we _could_ do."

"I suppose you're right. That doesn't mean I have to like it, though," she grumped, causing Naruto to chuckle quietly.

"No. You don't. We'll just have to try and not rely too much on our knowledge on missions. Kyuubi _did_ say that almost everything may change, even because of small things."

"Yes, but that's all about cause and effect. We shouldn't have had any affect on their motives."

Naruto shrugged. "Maybe we didn't. I don't know. And it'll kill us trying to figure it out."

"Mm," she moaned, tilting her head back as Naruto worked a knot from her shoulder. "Fine. But no stopping."

Naruto smiled and did as told. "Well, I would like to talk about a few other things if you're okay with it right now."

"Of course," she said, sounding affronted he would think otherwise. "We can always talk together."

"Well, it's just that I've been wondering about a few things for a little while. Do you remember when we first got together and began kissing? We got really into it and then got embarrassed when we realized what we were doing. Do you remember?"

Hinata giggled, relishing the memory. "Of course! Kami! I felt your erection and about screamed bloody murder! It shocked me so badly!" With a red face and crazy grin, she hid her face into Naruto's chest and giggled. "Tsunade-shishou thought we were being attacked!"

Naruto hugged her and laughed with her. Tsunade had been even more embarrassed than they were when she realized what they had been doing. That was when Hinata began to get her own tent, even if it _was_ still directly beside the old lady's. "Yea, but we got past that and talked together and decided to keep our relationship slow. We wouldn't go any further than you were willing to go at, whatever pace you decided."

Hinata nodded into Naruto's chest, turning so her left side was against his front. "And now we're doing all sorts of things and already getting naked around each other without any real problems, right?"

Naruto nodded, suddenly unsure of the subject even though Hinata sounded as though she understood his confusion. "Basically, yes. I mean, I am enjoying it, but I still stand by what I told you before. I'm willing to slow down and wait if you want," he said quietly, looking down at the beautiful girl in his arms.

"Like hell you will!" She said firmly and pulling back to look at her shocked boyfriend in the eye. After a moment of glaring at him, her face softened and she sighed and leaned back into him, pulling his arms around her tightly.

"I know I wanted to take it slow, Naruto-kun. But, that was mainly because I was still really shy about what we were doing and was really unsure about how you would react if you saw me."

"I don't understand," he said with a frown. "You're absolutely gorgeous, then and now."

Hinata giggled again and leaned up to kiss him soundly on the mouth, sucking in his bottom lip and nibbling gently. "You're sweet, Naruto-kun. But I was really insecure. When we came back and I tackled you, I was in such a good mood that I didn't even think about it before acting. And from there, I just kind of realized how you were looking at me."

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"You still looked at me the exact same way you did before we came back," she said quietly. "You knew Sakura better than anyone alive by the time she died, and even still had a thing for her at the time. We started dating roughly a year after that and you now had that chance to come back and try to use your knowledge about her to gain that relationship you always wanted, it was a scary prospect."

"I would never do that to you, Hinata-chan! I-"

"I know, Naruto-kun. Trust me, I know. But, I'm a girl. And to be honest, girls always worry that they're not good enough, or not pretty enough or-"

"You're _perfect_, Hina-chan," he whispered, cutting her off and gently licking a vein on the side of her throat. "No woman is as beautiful," he kissed her temple, "as loyal," he kissed her cheek, "as smart," he kissed the corner of her mouth, "or as incredible as you are." He finished with kissing he softly and gently on her lips, getting a delicate moan from the woo'd girl.

"You silver-tongued devil, Naruto-kun," she said with an impish smile. He simply smiled back. "Anyway," she continued, snuggling into his embrace and feeling wonderfully content, "after we split the seal and I woke up, I felt so incredible that I didn't even care that I was naked in front of you. And, after seeing your reaction, it kind of turned into more of a game for me."

"A game, huh?" He asked, looking at his blushing girlfriend.

"Well, I realized how happy I was to be the reason you became like that, so I wanted to do it more often, which is why I started teasing you. And, I couldn't really help peeking on you in the showers," she mumbled, blushing.

"Cheeky minx."

Hinata continued as if she had not heard him. Really, the conversation had to happen, but a part of her was still mortified that she had taken it as far as she had. Admittedly, it was a very small part of her that usually was only acknowledged because she liked the naughty aspect it allowed her to feel. "Anyway, I've also been feeling a strong desire to _be_ with you, so it's kind of been added incentive to go ahead and do these things that I want to do, but am a little hesitant to start. I still don't want to go all the way quite yet, but I don't really have an aversion to much else right now."

Naruto would admit, a part of him was thrilled to hear that. However, a part of him wasn't. "What do you mean you feel a desire? Is this thing with the furball pushing you to doing this?" He asked lowly. Hinata could detect the undertone of a veiled threat to their new slave and did not want that to start.

"Only in a way. You see, I ... I _want_ to do these things, Naruto-kun," she said quietly, obviously embarrassed. "But, a part of me was raised to wait until I was married before doing such things. Simply put, I don't give a damn about that part of me, though I did before coming back. I didn't really like it, but felt I needed to honor my father."

"I can understand that," Naruto said carefully, thinking it through as Hinata nodded in response.

"But, when we split the seal, parts of my mind changed. Kyuu-chan was able to help me with choosing what parts to change and what didn't so I didn't just become a new person entirely. I think I'll be a better person for it, and I won't have to lose any time in being with you." She hugged him to herself and sighed as she closed her eyes, silently telling him she wanted to stop with the conversation. Right now, all she wanted to do was enjoy a nice cuddle with her boyfriend under the stars.

Naruto leaned his head over hers and took the hint. He had learned, before coming back to the past, that Hinata loved to cuddle. It was easily her favorite pastime and one that he had very quickly learned to enjoy. Even having done the things they had, doing more than cuddling was rare. Though he would have to admit that it was an odd coincidence that all of their encounters up to that point had occurred outside when he had a perfectly good apartment. Still, he was content to hold his girl in his arms.

"Just to be thorough, I love you, Hinata-chan," he whispered into her ear, getting a contented shifting as she snuggled into him more thoroughly.

"Love you too, Naru-kun," she slurred, causing him to smile and enjoy the sight of the nighttime sky before he carried her into the house and kissed her good night.

xXxXxXx

**[A/N:]** - Please feel free to look at my forum for information regarding this or any of my other stories and I apologize for being late. Next chapter, the plot itself picks up and the pace will begin to accelerate for the story. Also, there is a discussion with Anko and Kurenai and Ino gets busted!

A lot of this chapter was to show how their memories could be wrong or skewed, show some development, explain a bit on chakra, introduce the Kensei arc as a way of showing that things have changed some already and how, just because of the change in teams and to show there is more to time travel than what they were previously aware of.

And yes, Tayuya did not speak for a reason.

Paladeus


	7. Delving Into the Mind

**Title:** Reforging The Past

**Chapter7 – **Delving Into the Mind

**Ship:** Naruto/Hina, Naru/Harem, Naru/Hina/Ino/FemHaku/FemKyuu, Anko/Kurenai

**Author:** Paladeus

**Key:** "Speech", **"Demonic Speech"**, _'Thought'_, _**'Demonic Thought'**_

xXxXxXx

**[A/N:]** There is a bit of citrus in this chapter between Naruto and Ino. Just after that, I talk about physical maturity comparisons between civilians and active shinobi. This is my explanation for why so many stories can have 12/13 year olds doing naughty stuff without any real problems in ... ability. Please don't say how I'm wrong, as I know girls can naturally start to develop at eight (with documented cases of starting at six, and no, I don't mean "House", that medical TV show). I know first-hand that it's possible (my niece screamed bloody murder, no pun intended.) I just offer a bit of explanation as to why it happens in this world. I will have a discussion about it in-story in this chapter between Ino and Hinata to explain a little more of what I mean. It's just a naughtier way of learning the chakra control exercise (remember, this story is meant to contain lots of naughty bits and is a harem story.)

**I planned on starting the Wave arc in this chapter**, but to be honest, there is too much to happen before getting to it. I know it seems like my plot is going slowly, but if there is to be honest affection between the characters and not just girls jumping into bed with Naruto and honest character development, I don't want to skip months when I could add in original arcs to show where the characters grow and change. After all, what is the point of reading something that you already read dozens, or even hundreds, of times?

I've noticed I've had a drastic decline of readers and, while I am doing this 'cause I want the story to be out, I would like others to enjoy it at the same time. Therefore, we shall get to the action and advance the plot. **If you find things you dislike about the story, review and tell me so I can work on it. Constructive criticism not only helps me know what to work on, but gives me an idea of what the general consensus of the readers is.** Same with what you do like. I can't make the story better if I don't know if anything is wrong and I don't know anything without feedback. I'll write purely what I like, which may be vastly different than most. Reviews or PM's, I don't care.

**Recommended Story of the Chapter:** "Naruto The Kitsune Hanyou" by Dragon Man 180 (Naru/Hina)

**xXx** – Previously – **xXx**

"_I don't know," Anko said quietly. "But are we going ahead with our plan anyway?"_

_Kurenai nodded. "I see no reason as to why not. This is as good of a time as any while we're outside the village and Hokage-sama has already authorized it."_

_Anko grinned ferally, finally ready to see some sort of action. "Tonight then."_

**xXx** – STORY – **xXx**

Ino groaned as Anko's voice popped up from nowhere and told them to set up camp. AGAIN! It would be the eighteenth time that day they would be setting up the tent. They had woken up in the morning as was their habit and had taken off with a goodbye from Juntou and Joga and had spent the first half of the day tracking either Kurenai or Anko, or sometimes the Snake Jounin's summons, and usually sprinting while being told randomly to stop and set up the camp and then take it down. "Don't make that noise, kid. This is the last time for the day. We'll spend the rest of our week training and practicing field maneuvers."

Ino and Naruto both made sounds of happy agreement as they set up the camp as quickly as they could while Anko timed them. The worst part about the whole thing was that they had forbidden Naruto from using his Kage Bunshin when he spammed them with a bunch to try and do all the work himself so the other two would not have to do anything more than needed and had been promptly beaten with a stick courtesy of Anko who said they all needed to develop the skill. Naruto and Hinata, despite knowing what to do and with the skill to do it, were shocked to hear the woman berate them for their laziness and had shaved off nearly a minute from their initial times.

"Alright, even though Naruto was thoughtful enough to seal plenty of food for us, we don't want to waste a resource we can use later when we may need it. Hinata, Ino, why don't you two find us some game to eat. Naruto, you gather some firewood and drinking water. No clones, understood?" Kurenai said, getting an affirmative from all three Genin as they went on their ways.

Seconds after they had left, Anko turned to Kurenai. "So, how do we do this without Ino being none the wiser?" She asked, knowing Kurenai wouldn't want to make things uncomfortable for them all if everything turned out to be on the up-and-up.

"I'm not really sure," Kurenai admitted. "I'm trying to decide if we should really do this, though."

"What do you mean 'if'? We know they're hiding something. We need to figure out what and if it's bad for us or not. And you let us kip out in Joga's house last night so I couldn't question them, so I'm do for a good interrogation! Come on, Kurenai-chan. Please let me interrogate the little buggers? I won't leave marks," Anko promised with a cute pout.

Kurenai rolled her eyes with a smirk. "Yes. And we know Hokage-sama was hiding something when he told us they were to pass no matter what test we gave them and to assist them with whatever they asked, no matter what it was. Whatever this is, it could, and most likely is, tied to that. It isn't often that two fresh Genin are granted the authority to boss two Jounin around. Actually, they weren't even Genin yet, which makes this all the weirder."

Anko pouted for a moment before smiling. "That just means I'm not allowed to get messy! Now put that pretty head of yours to work and help me think of a way of talking to 'em and I'll do that thing you like when we get back."

Kurenai blushed and quickly looked around to make sure no one had returned yet. While two of their three Genin were aware of their relationship, it did not mean she wanted to be that obvious! "Why don't we just tell Ino she has third watch tonight and say it's to give them a chance at learning watch shifts while we're in friendly territory? We can tell them to go to bed, but say we'll talk about dating rules between Naruto and Hinata since they'll all be sharing a tent anyway," Kurenai said, rewards for her quick thinking flashing through her head.

Anko smiled and sauntered up to the still blushing Kurenai, who watched her carefully. "Good job, Kurenai-chan," she purred into the red-eyed woman's ear. "If things are good after we talk to them, maybe I can do that thing you like tonight instead, ne?"

Kurenai shuddered and almost latched herself onto the woman in front of her before a voice called out from only a few feet away. "Kurenai-sensei, where do you want me to put this firewood?" With a barely repressed squawk of surprise, Kurenai spun around and saw Naruto carrying a huge pile of branches and twigs, several of which drug on the ground several feet behind him for them to break apart later. And he _still_ managed to sneak up on her!

"We want a fire about twenty feet from the tent. Do you know how to make a safe fire?" She asked. He had denied it venomously, but a few years ago, a small fire had started in his apartment, so she wasn't so sure.

"Yup!" Quickly he went over and used a minor doton jutsu to compress the ground into two bowl shapes and then dug a small tunnel between them to hide the fire, but still allow it to get air from the second hole so it didn't suffocate itself. It was more a force of habit from his and Hinata's time before coming back when their fires had to be as hidden as possible and it was something he had not even bothered correcting since it was still a good thing to do rather than allow the fire to sit on the ground and be seen from a distance. It did, however, give Anko a chance to appreciate his work as the girls came up with several rabbits, wild vegetables and herbs.

"Nice job. Most rookies don't start off by making their fires like this. Can you tell me why he chose to do it this way rather than what most newbies would do?" Anko asked, looking at the girls and holding a hand to cut off Naruto.

"So we can just toss dirt over it when we leave and don't have to do as much clean up?" Ino asked, not really having any clue. "We were always shown to create a circle made out of rocks and dirt to protect the fire from spreading in the Academy."

Anko nodded once, acknowledging the point. "That is one proper way to set them up, yes. But why in a small hole in the ground? Why a second hole and a tunnel between the two?"

Hinata smiled and pecked Naruto on the cheek as he took the rabbits a small distance out to field dress them to eat later. "The hole is both to make sure the flames don't catch and creep out to set anything else on fire as the rocks would do and to hide the light from a much closer distance than if it was on top where the light could go straight out. Since it is in the ground, the second hole and tunnel are to allow oxygen to fuel the flames since it can't get the air as easily while submerged. Also, any time you move a rock, it leaves a bunch of noticeable traces which can be used to follow you; moss rubbed off, holes in the ground, smear marks on the dirt on the rock and the like, and can leave marks on the ground where they are moved to. Not to mention a lot of people won't put them back, so it's obvious someone had been there."

"Excellent!" Anko grinned widely and ruffled Hinata's hair, causing the girl to glare at the older woman playfully before creating a clone to help Naruto so they could eat sooner. They had been running all day and working on their tracking skills and all of them could use the meal.

"Ino-chan," the real Hinata said as she rolled her eyes at Anko's odd behavior, "you wanted to get extra training in, so we're going to work on your chakra for the time being. We'll work on this while Naruto-kun works on dinner." Without another word, she spun and walked towards a near by tree and tossed a kunai into the trunk to mark their start and end point.

"What are you teaching me?" Ino asked, rather curious as she moved quickly to keep up with Hinata.

"Well, Anko-sensei and Kurenai-sensei taught us tree climbing, but this is a step above that," Hinata said with a Naruto-like smirk. "While that taught control, this improves your reserves."

"What are you going to do," Ino asked with narrowed and suspicious eyes.

Hinata giggled and spun so she was walking backwards and hiding her hands behind her back. "Here are the rules: rule one, you do not touch the ground. Rule two, you must use the tree climbing exercise and stick to the sides of the trees, branches or undersides of the branches and not on top for longer than a second or two. Rule three, no jutsu. This is just a game of tag where you need to try to keep using your chakra."

"Again, what are you going to do?" Ino asked, suddenly worried that Hinata had avoided her question.

Hinata let out a short whistle and a clone that Ino had not realized was created walked out with a smirk and scroll waving in the air. "If you don't catch the real me, then these wonderful, recently stolen undergarments get released all over the Inuzuka's puppy sector." The smirking clone looked up at Ino innocently. "There are some beautiful, lacy ones in here, too."

Ino's eyes widened significantly as the threat turned home. If Hinata got all of her underwear, then she would be very, _very_ uncomfortable for the next six days! And the puppies would destroy them, too. Some of those were really pretty, which almost dictated that they be delicate. "You wouldn't!"

"Catch me if you can, Ino-chan!" With that, Hinata took off, pinging around from tree to tree like a one-woman blitz attack. It only took Ino a second to realize she had to catch up.

"Give me back my panties!"

xXxXxXx

"You're a bloody slave driver," Ino grumbled as she swallowed from her canteen. The meal had been wonderful, much to her surprise, and stuck to the sides of her stomach and left her feeling warm, contented and pleasantly plump. She had to hand it to Naruto, the boy knew how to cook. It was a little weird to eat a stew that had so many ramen noodles in it, but he was right, they acted as filler.

Sadly, her legs were still killing her and the lack of chakra had her swaying on the log Naruto had moved for her to sit on. She would have worried about what she was eating, having originally been on a diet with many of the other kunoichi where they ate very little, but Hinata had made a very good argument. If she wanted to be any decent kind of ninja, or just one that stayed alive, she should exercise to keep her figure rather than starve herself.

Put into those kinds of terms, her choice had been frighteningly obviously. As had her previous stupidity.

"Yes, but remember that you chased me for a good hour. In another week or two, you'll be a lot faster and able to last much longer," Hinata waved her off flippantly. "You're tired now, but you'll be stronger for it later. I'm impressed with how long you held out. I doubt the other girls would have lasted as well," Hinata said, making Ino smile appreciatively.

Shifting her eyes subtly to the side, Hinata eyed Naruto carefully. _'And the more tired you are, the less careful and quiet I have to be when I show Naruto-kun something new.'_

"Alright you three. We're going to practice watch shifts tonight. Hinata will take the first, Naruto the second and Ino will take the third," Anko said just before belching loudly and then smiling proudly.

"Ino, you go ahead to bed. We want to discuss the rules of the tent with the two lovebirds for this and future outings." Kurenai watched Ino nod with a large yawn, too tired to even fight it and thanked Hinata for wearing the blonde kunoichi out. She and Anko both were thrilled to see Naruto and Hinata work together to teach Ino things and include her in much of their training schedules. Without any prompting, they were developing a wonderful core of trust and friendship; bonds that would help them greatly in the future.

Once Ino disappeared into the tent and closed it behind her, Kurenai turned to find Naruto and Hinata sitting next to each other and looking at the two Jounin with serious faces. It would seem they were not quite as subtle as they had hoped to be.

"Alright, brats. We wanna know how you know as much as you do and why you've got the backing of the Hokage to have us at your beck and call."

Ah, Anko. All the subtlety and finesse of Naruto in a ramen shop.

Hinata cocked her head to the side and looked at Anko carefully. "What do you want us to say?"

"We want you to tell us the truth," Kurenai said, preempting Anko's smart-ass response. "The fact of the matter is you both know far more than you should as Genin, even if Naruto _had_ broken into the library and you both act far more ...," she trailed off, not really quiet sure how to explain the feeling she needed to express.

Mitarashi-no-tact-Anko, however, held no such reservations. "You're acting like a bunch of smart and horny adults in children's bodies who have been holding back, and quite poorly I'd like to mention, during our spars. You do some seals and then stop, then doing new ones and you can't know as much as you do about elemental chakra manipulation. It takes years of practice to learn some of the things you mentioned to Ino on the way into town. You're too calm, especially you Uzumaki, and you both know too many tricks of the trade that you learn through experience. Not sitting around and listening to other ninja talk, because a lot of it isn't stuff we talk about in the open. And none of it is stuff, family for you, Hinata, would be telling you. Most of your family frown on working as medics anyway. Mind explaining this?"

Naruto pouted as Hinata sighed, grabbing his arm. "We should have known we couldn't hide this under their noses. They're both trained to see the smallest details even more thoroughly than most other ninja."

Naruto scowled and pointed at the Snake-Jounin accusingly. "This is because I took the last of the meat, isn't it!"

"Naruto!" Hinata scolded, pulling him back. "How much do we tell them?"

The two Jounin looked on curiously as Naruto thought for a few moments. "We can't tell them everything. It would ruin it all. We didn't even tell Jiji everything, only what we had to, and even then, it may have been too much. So I say just the basics, answer some questions that can't affect the total outcome and answer more as the time comes."

"Alright. That sounds reasonable," Hinata said, turning to two thoroughly confused Jounin. "Simply put, with the Kyuubi's help, our minds and souls have traveled back in time about seven years because we were at war with a large number of enemies and Naruto was going to do a jutsu that would possibly save our lives, but kill him and Kyuubi in the process to only halve their numbers."

Anko and Kurenai were silent for a full minute, trying to take in the reality of that statement. One of their S-Class secrets, out in the open. Two of their Genin claiming to be from the future and war with a large number of enemies that were apparently putting Konoha in bad shape.

"So, you two brats think you're from the future?" Anko asked, sounding as though she felt they should be locked up in the padded rooms reserved for Ibiki's interrogation subjects after he was through with them.

Naruto rolled his eyes and held out his hand, forming a rasengan. "This is the rasengan. It's a technique that only the Yondaime and Jiraiya of the Sannin know how to use, aside from myself when Jiraiya would teach me a little later from now originally. He also taught me sealing and helped me develop my elemental affinity after Kakashi started me on it."

Hinata held up a hand that was covered in a green shimmer as she called up chakra scalpels without any hand signs. "And I was Tsunade-shishou's apprentice for two years, which is where my medical knowledge comes from, along with her assistant, Shizune-nee-chan."

"Pfft," Naruto interrupted. "Shizune-chan taught you most of it. The old bat needs to stop drinking."

Hinata firmly whacked Naruto on the head and berated him for trying to change the subject. She could tell he was wanting the situation to be less tense, but honestly, there was a time and place for humor. It was after they had them believing in the time-traveling duo. Then they got to completely mess with their heads.

"Regardless," Hinata continued, "it is true. The Kyuubi performed some form of time travel to bring us back. I'm not sure on the exact details, but she said something about destroying the future in order to come back. We'll have to ask her once she's conscious again."

"You _destroyed_ the future?" Kurenai asked in shock.

"Screw that," Anko said loudly. "The Kyuubi's a chick!"

Hinata giggled while Naruto grinned widely. "Yea," he said, "it scared the hell out of me too. She was all in demon fox form and then shrunk down to a big-busted, demon girl with fox ears and tails and no clothes. She pressed herself up against the bars and asked if I wanted to learn just how naughty she could be."

Hinata growled in the back of her throat and glared at Naruto's tummy. "The bitch didn't make that mistake a second time." Hinata wasn't angry about what the demon fox had tried, especially since she couldn't blame her for wanting Naruto-kun, but it was right after Hinata had been the one who would get the control necklace and become Naruto's teammate that the vixen had tried to get him to ignore the Hyuuga heiress. _That_ had pissed her off.

"Hinata!" Kurenai berated. "Why are you talking like that! You used to be so sweet and caring about everyone," she trailed off, not sure she liked this new Hinata.

Hinata sighed and walked over to her oldest friend and plopped beside her to hug the woman tightly. "This Hinata has been at war for four years, Kurenai-sensei. She's been the Godaime's apprentice for two years, in a relationship with her only love for three incredible months while having been in an actual team with him for three and a half years and literally killed hundreds, if not thousands, of enemies."

Kurenai hugged Hinata to her as the lithe girl continued. "That Hinata couldn't survive in the war and had never been able to tell Naruto what he meant to her. I had to harden myself to kill the people I did and had to learn to stand up for myself. At this point in the past, my father did not care if I lived or died, and still doesn't, even though he's impressed with my new attitude and ability. I was walked on by almost everyone. That Hinata would have died in the war to come. I'm still basically the same, but I will absolutely destroy anyone who doesn't have my permission to catch Naruto's interest, including an eon-old fox demon."

"Most girls would say something about any girl who tried to catch his interest, not about getting permission, girly," Anko grunted with a raised eyebrow. Hinata smirked and looked at the purple-haired kunoichi.

"A part of the requirement for coming back was to be covered by the Kyuubi's aegis and using her power to transport us back. In other words, she had to merge a little with me as she had done with Naruto-kun during his life as he developed. So, I gained all sorts of goodies in terms of power-ups and a part of my mind was altered, controlled and mellowed by my own mind. The Kyuubi is currently mine and Naruto-kun's slave due to a situation we had come up, so she helped me alter only what I wanted to alter, just to be safe and sure."

"What do you mean?" Kurenai asked, slightly worried. It had sounded as though Hinata trusted the demon fox, but letting her help alter your mind? That did not seem safe or smart.

"Using the Kyuubi's power, she turned me into a hanyou, or half demon. She did the same with Naruto-kun, only she didn't have to alter his mind as they adapted to meet each other in a half way point through his life; his love of orange is similar to the Kyuubi's because of her coat of fur, he enjoys sparring like demons but not needless harm like humans, he's loyal to anyone he considers an ally, he wants to be Hokage which is the equivalent of being the Alpha of the village, he enjoys being outside and nature, he loves to pull pranks and is excellent at stealth just like Kitsune of legend and, like a demon, he never goes back on his word." She briefly considered bringing up his stamina into the conversation, but felt she could wait until she had a chance to see if it held up to legend when she could test it in the way the stories told.

"We're talking about you, Hinata," Kurenai said with a frown. "And I don't think you can trust a demon's word. They have the reputation they do for a reason, you know."

"I believe I would know better than you would after speaking with the Kyuubi for two and a half years," Hinata said coldly, taking Kurenai back. "Demons can lie just like anyone, but they cannot go back on their word. It's a method of balance," she said primly.

"Okay, then what about your mind?" Anko asked, intrigued despite herself. Even if all of this was a lie, it was a damned fun one. "What changed on you?"

Hinata shrugged cutely and then rose to sit heavily in Naruto's lap, smiling as he let out a grunt of surprise. "Like Naruto, I'll enjoy fighting a bit more, I keep my word, I'm getting a bit more confidence-"

"More like a shit load," Anko mumbled, getting an elbow from Kurenai.

Hinata continued as if she was not interrupted. "When it comes to Naruto-kun, he is mine," her voice hardened and she glared at the other two women who could only maintain their shocked expressions as subtle killing intent rose from the small girl in front of them. "If they wish to approach him, they _will_ go through me."

"You make it sound as though you don't mind him and other women," Anko said with a lecherous grin at the blonde boy who was paying as much attention to Hinata as Kurenai was. She was not sure if it was out of interest to this basically meaning she was admitting she was okay with more girls in the relationship, or if he was reading to step in and correct something, but it would be interesting to find out. She found it hard to believe, but Hinata was actually the more dominant one of their odd little relationship most often. Naruto took charge on occasion, but more often than not, he simply mumbled a 'yes dear' and did whatever Hinata suggested if it was between them.

Odd, but looking back, she never once took charge or even tried to command him regarding anything but the two of them. Any time he gave an order, it was followed, regardless of how they interacted. That would bear looking into.

"Kyuu-chan explained that it was almost impossible to stop from happening as it was one of those things that are a core part of her personality, which means they have the strongest basis and fundamental structure of who she was. To that end, it would have been the hardest thing to stop from happening and changing within myself."

"What, exactly, is that?" Kurenai asked, tired of not getting to the point.

"Everything Kyuubi is, was applied to myself, but she helped limit it and let my own mental structure and perceptions override the majority of hers, so I am still me, just a more profoundly me. Able to say and do what I want without fearing as much about the consequences."

"Huh?" Anko asked as her left eyebrow twitched.

Naruto laughed and decided to help out. "She's still her, but she has some animalistic urges and thought processes and less inhibitions."

"You still didn't answer my question," Anko said after accepting what Naruto said.

Hinata sighed. "Basically, Naruto is my mate and my Alpha. He is the leader and in charge of whatever we have ourselves in, no matter what we call the unit; our relationship, our team or Konoha as Hokage, he is the one in charge. Naruto-kun has a lot of love to give, and he deserves happiness. I'm not saying he could have a whole harem, but I'm willing to consider a girl if she is worthy of him," Hinata told the two Jounin.

"However, any girl has to go through me if she wants to be with him because I am the Alpha female. I find it a little interesting to find myself so agreeable to the idea, but my human side won't let him just take any woman he wants without planning on it being long-term like some animals in the wild. He could bring in a girl if he wanted and had a solid foundation with her and I wasn't likely to kill her for it, but aside from the two of us, he's in charge."

"Pfft," Anko snorted. "Yea. He's in charge. That's why you have him wrapped around your little finger."

Hinata blushed as she glanced at Naruto who raised an eyebrow at her. "Well, that's kind of a ... er ...-"

"What she means to say," Naruto interrupted his blushing girlfriend, "is that I like seeing her taking charge. She's not had a lot of opportunity for it in the past and it's a small measure of happiness I can give her. Alpha-Hinata is sexy as hell. Meek-Hinata, well-" he shifted his eyes to Hinata and smirked, "that's cute too, but I don't want to dominate her. Just love her."

Anko scrunched up her nose at the sickly sweet comment as Hinata pounced and kissed the boy thoroughly. Kurenai sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose and decided to continue the conversation. "I don't suppose you can prove any of this?" She asked, getting them back on track.

Hinata looked up from where she had tackled Naruto to the ground, looking surprised that her play time was over. Oddly enough, that is exactly how she felt. "Since the Hokage said to help us with whatever we need, and we do have that knowledge of tricks of the trade as Anko-sensei mentioned, doesn't that kind of prove our story?" She asked, letting Naruto set her on the log as he sat down next to her.

"Not really, no," Kurenai said. "That you have his backing helps a bit, but it could be some other reason. I mean, we all know he favors Naruto. And, since you obviously know about the Kyuubi, it could just as easily be an attempt to teach him what we can so he can be safer from the more idiotic villagers in the village."

Naruto and Hinata looked at each other, agreeing and silently communicating before Naruto turned to their sensei. "In terms of proof, I never really knew either of you too well. I know what Hinata-chan's told me about you," he said, looking at Kurenai before turning to Anko, "and I've worked with you a few times on Orochimaru runs until you sacrificed yourself trying to take him with you. That was scary as all hell. I don't think I saw you smile that scarily even during the second stage of the Chuunin Exams," Naruto said with a shudder.

Anko blink, and then grinned. "Truth or not, I like him!" She said happily, turning to Kurenai. "Can we keep him? He amuses me."

Kurenai smirked and shook her head at Anko's antics. "What can you tell us that may help us believe you? I mean, time travel has certainly been attempted, but obviously, no one has ever been known to succeed. I'm sure you can see where I'm hesitant to believe you."

"You're worried more about believing the time traveling thing instead of the half demon part?" Naruto asked in equal parts surprised and confusion. "Huh. I wouldn't have expected that."

Kurenai shrugged. "Of the two, it's the least likely. If you can make a believer out of me on that, then I figure I'll believe the other."

"Good plan," Naruto mumbled, getting ignored as Hinata spoke.

"I'm not sure what we can tell you. We've got the knowledge of our jutsu, taijutsu and the like, but have to build our strength back up, our taijutsu ability since our bodies aren't trained like our minds, our chakra control skyrocketed for both of us. There isn't really anything about your lives that we know that you haven't already told us. And like we said before, you wound up in a relationship with Asuma that resulted in a child in about four years from now. So we didn't even know the two of you were together."

The two adults sat and looked for some method of proving or disproving their students' story, but they couldn't think of anything. The one piece of future-related proof they mentioned, her relationship with the Hokage's son, was actually something that could have happened if it wasn't for the two kids finding out and accepting their unconventional relationship. Finally, they gave up for now. "Forget it. I can't think of a way to get an actual answer out of you guys for now. We'll speak to the Hokage later to see about him proving it for us. Until then, tell us what we need to know about the future and your past." Kurenai's plan was to see how deep their story went and exactly what kinds of ideas they came up with. Knowing Naruto, this could just easily be some massive prank, and Hinata would go along with it just because it was him. But, if their stories fit together, even with smaller details, or was too complex, then there would be no choice but to believe them.

"Uh uh," Hinata said, shaking her head so her hair swished delicately back and forth. "Most of what we know is long-term, so there isn't much damage telling you can do since it'll probably change anyway, but some very important things are coming up for the next Chuunin Exam, and-" Hinata cut off as she realized a very odd little fact.

"Um, Anko-sensei? Are you able to do the second stage of the Chuunin Exam as lead proctor if you are a part of one of the participating teams?"

Both teens' faces paled as Anko shook her head. "No. Too much risk of favoritism and telling you secrets in advance. I can provide counsel to whoever will be taking control, but I can't do anything myself if you guys take part of it. It's pretty much been the same for a few years, now, though. I doubt it'll change unless they give it to some upstart who thinks he's got a better idea."

Naruto and Hinata looked at each other before coming to a mutual agreement. "I suppose we can tell you about two major events, so long as you don't take any actions that could change things too much," Naruto said. "We'll get our first C-Rank mission to Wave, soon. It's actually going to be more difficult, fighting against the Demon Brothers and Zabuza from Mist. There is also going to be a girl, Haku, who pretends to be a boy and has the Hyoton, or ice bloodline. They're hired by a guy named Gatou that we will need to kill and try to recruit them to Konoha's forces."

Hinata picked up, not giving the two women time to think about what Naruto had just told them. "And Orochimaru kills the Kazekage and impersonates him to ally Sand with Sound, which he is leading and is mostly made up of missing ninja to attack Konoha during the third stage of the Chuunin Finals."

Naruto continued, finding himself somewhat amused as the women were thrown off guard by the two switching back and forth. "Gaara is the Kazekage's son, but is also a Jinchuuriki of the one-tailed demon raccoon. I can take him on fairly easily, but hope to befriend him and his brother and sister before anything comes up."

"Also," Hinata continued, "Orochimaru plans to capture Uchiha Sasuke and give him the Cursed Seal during the second stage, if it's in the Forbidden Forest. We're unsure of what will happen since you're our sensei now, though."

Kurenai pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. "Anko, I blame you for this damn headache."

"I don't understand," Hinata began, finally unable to ignore asking after so long with Naruto trying to figure it out himself. "Why are the two of you in a relationship now, but you weren't when Team Eight started in the other time line? I mean, you two weren't even together. How could we have changed something from so early on? Especially something so big? Kurenai-sensei, you, at least, can't be strictly lesbian, because you wound up with Asuma. So, how?"

Kurenai and Anko looked at each other before agreeing to explain. If nothing else, this particular concept helped validate their story. The two had planned to stop seeing each other the moment one of them had a team, but that changed when they got put on the team together, and then gained acceptance from Naruto and Hinata. If their story was true, then they wouldn't have stayed together. And, if they were making a story up, they would use the clues that existed, not the ones that were only discussed between the two of them.

Kurenai spoke first, knowing Anko would need some time to come to terms with telling her story, if she decided to. "You see the way I dress and my appearance," she said, getting nods.

"Of course," Hinata said. "Kunoichi are trained to fight while showing off their bodies to try and distract the enemy and part of that is in the way you dress. I may have breasts, but I'm not developed enough to really utilize that, yet, so I haven't bothered. I'm still too weak to fend off against most men who would try to do something and don't need to give them ideas."

Kurenai nodded, both she and Anko getting one more bit of proof to see that their story was real as that was something taught only when a kunoichi actually _had_ those assets to emphasize, and never to the ones this young for that very fear; that they may get raped while out on assignment if they gave their enemy the wrong idea. "Correct. I don't mean to sound vain, but I'm also rather pretty and I've dated a few men who wanted to get our relationship moving to the physical level faster than I wanted to, so I left them. It was mostly ninja, because we live such hectic lives that it's hard to take a relationship slow and civilians don't generally interest me because they're usually even worse," she said, frowning and wondering how she could believe she was having this discussion with two thirteen-year olds.

At least it might help the two of them decide to keep things slow.

"Basically, when you get older and aren't on a set team, you see each other with varying degrees of length, and most men don't want to live with that. Being ninja are high-stress jobs and it's a very good stress reliever, but _only_ when you're older," she said, glaring at both teens who blushed.

"Anyway, Anko and I had been friends for a while, since the last Shinobi War, actually, and got drunk and spent a night together after swearing off relationships for a while. We decided it was okay for us, because we knew each other pretty well and didn't mind it, so we continued on. We had planned to go our separate ways when we got a team together and decided to try and keep it secret before that since most people don't understand that relationships exist because of love, not gender."

Anko snorted and rolled her eyes. "Yea, fat lot of good that did us. Kakashi's been taping us doing each other for who knows how long. At least two years since that was when I stopped wearing the outfit from that one video after it took you so long to get it off me." Anko smirked at the kids. "Our bodies may be used to distract our enemies, but wearing this little means Kurenai-chan has almost no work so we get right to the good stuff."

Kurenai winced, wishing Anko wouldn't be so damned blunt in front of their Genin. "Er, yes, well, all said and done, that's basically what it amounts to. We're both bisexual, not lesbians, but have no interests in anyone other than each other right now."

Hinata nodded, looking thoughtful. "So we changed the teams and that allowed you two to stay together, then. I see now."

Anko looked at the two kids, deciding she believed them. The blonde brat already said he knew about Orochimaru, so it wasn't such a big deal, but she still didn't like to talk about it. "I don't want to go into details, and won't, but the snake bastard claimed he loved me and then left me for dead. When I got to Konoha, I was treated about like Naruto and couldn't find anyone who actually meant anything but a few guys who wanted nothing but sex, so I got disgusted with the lot of them. When that night with Kurenai happened and we got drunk and decided it was a good idea, I hadn't really thought about a relationship for two years. That's my story.

Both kids nodded. "Everything but your relationships we already knew," Hinata said.

Anko nodded. "Well, after we get back to Konoha, you'll both be telling me about some of the things the bastard was up to so I can be prepared. He's going to die and I'm sure as hell making sure it happens."

After a moment's pause, Kurenai realized their ruse used on Ino was actually a good idea and decided that they would actually take watch and set up some rules. "Now that that's out of the way, I'd actually like to go over the rules like we told Ino."

Three sets of surprised eyes looked at the red-eyed woman who ignored them and continued. "Assuming you're telling the truth, I know you understand the relationship aspects, but want you to try and keep it toned down in front of Ino. At the moment, she's the only one without a love interest that is constantly with us and, even if she's okay with it, constantly seeing displays of affection from you two or us," she said, looking at Anko, "can still make her get depressed and possibly cause some resentment. It's hard seeing teammates have a relationship and not be capable of the same thing, so we need to make sure to be considerate of her feelings, understood?"

"Yes, Kurenai-sensei," both teenagers agreed.

"Beyond that, I'd like you two to understand that you're sharing a tent with Ino since we can't risk the security of one person sleeping by themselves, so I want you two to try to refrain from overt expressions of affection, alright?"

"We understand, Kurenai-sensei," Hinata said.

xXxXxXx

It was two days and Ino's chakra reserved had shown a marked increase. The girl had better reserves than Sakura had before the new exercise, but they were still not much beyond that of a civilian's. So, when Hinata kept taking her panties and made Ino chase her, the girl realized Hinata had told her the truth. Her reserves were almost an additional quarter of what they were originally. That wasn't saying too much, as again, they were small to begin with, but now that she was aware of the situation, she made a point of promising to work on them.

Hinata even commented a day or two at the lake where they could learn to water walk, which would offer better chakra control, and required more chakra than tree climbing, which should increase her reserves even faster, would be a wonderful idea.

Naruto was quite enthusiastic about it when he learned Hinata would be wearing a bathing suit and decided his reserves could use some work as well and felt water-walking and elemental training would be just the thing to work on.

Today, however, the kids were being given the day after lunch for whatever they wanted until dinner after a grueling half day of taijutsu, though Ino was proud of her new mobility that Anko's stretches were giving her. And for the five hours they had for themselves, Hinata suggested learning to escape ropes and ninja wire.

"What? Why?" Ino asked. "We learned how to do that in the Academy," she said, pulling out a small knife from her waist where it was conveniently hidden by her belt to show she did as the instructors said was required.

"Because unless you can make chakra strings, then you can't escape it if your hands aren't at your waist and those blades aren't sharp enough to cut the steel thread of ninja wire," Hinata said, remembering a time in their past where Ino had returned after being kidnapped from her team. Chouji had managed to break into the camp after managing to fully increase his entire body size for the first time and get her out before anything truly unfortunate happened, but it could have been avoided in the first place. And they had lost the political message scroll they were protecting as well.

"I suppose that makes sense," Ino said as Hinata held out her hand. Kurenai, Anko and Naruto were sitting by, listening, though only the latter was going to be participating. He wasn't sure _how_ yet, but Hinata assured him that she needed him.

"Watch what I do, and tell me if you can figure it out," Hinata said, holding up a branch for a brief moment before it snapped, cut cleanly in two rather than broken.

"How did you do that?" Ino asked, wide-eyed. Even Kurenai and Anko decided to take note of it.

"Your reserves are high enough now that you shouldn't have any problems manifesting chakra outside of your body," Hinata began, explaining from the beginning. "You're going to make a blade or wedge out of it and then cut whatever is holding you." Just to show that it was possible, Hinata did the same with a bit of steel ninja wire that was well-known for sustaining tension of up to four hundred pounds when not reinforced with chakra.

"I don't know how to do that, though," Ino said with a frown.

"That's okay. It takes a little time to learn to make it sharp enough, but manifesting it is very easy. Let's practice," Hinata said, taking five minutes to explain how to draw out the chakra needed and push it to certain parts of her body just as if tree climbing before pushing it out. By the time the five minutes were up, Ino was able to break the branch four out of five times, but hadn't been able to sharpen her chakra enough for cutting.

"Excellent, Ino!" Hinata praised. "Now we're going to practice doing it while you're bound to a tree with rope." From seemingly out of nowhere, Hinata held up a length of rope while wearing a large goofy grin.

Ino gulped.

xXxXxXx

"Okay," Ino said, suspended one foot from the ground and tied tightly to the tree, "now that I'm here, I just do the same thing to the rope as I did to the branch, right?"

Hinata nodded, though she didn't tell Ino that the rope was more difficult to escape from as it had to be cut, not broken. "Do you trust me, Ino?" Hinata asked, getting a shocked look from the blonde tied to the tree.

"You're asking me that _now_?!" Ino screeched.

Nonplussed, Hinata nodded.

"Er, I suppose so," Ino said nervously, watching as everyone stood around her, suddenly feeling quite nervous. Anko and Kurenai hadn't admitted it, but this actually seemed like a valuable skill to learn and they were considering learning it themselves. Both had already tried and, while they could get a blob of chakra, they realized it actually was rather difficult and required constant attention. Kurenai herself had near perfect control and fumbled with it slightly, though she suspected it was due to being a new activity rather than difficulty level.

Hinata nodded and turned to Naruto. "Do you remember how you taught me this technique?" She asked, remembering back in their pasts a few months after his return from his training trip with Jiraiya. They had finally sat down and talked after they began doing missions together and she had eventually told him of when she was five and Cloud had tried to kidnap her and that she had since been scared of being bound or in small, confined spaces since it seemed so similar. He had thought for a second before altering his rasengan's first stage of training into what she was now teaching Ino.

It had come more easily thanks to her Jyuuken training, but because of what they were doing, and because it was Naruto, she had been incredibly nervous and taken much longer to get it working, though Naruto had learned enough from Jiraiya to realize why she was acting so odd, so it was also as much for helping her confidence and innate shyness as it was for the technique. She was also both ashamed of her family and amused by the fact that Naruto thought up the process rather than the Hyuuga. For caring so much about status and ability, they had _all_ missed an incredible method to make themselves even stronger.

Confused, and blushing lightly, Naruto nodded. "Um, yea, why?"

"I want you to teach it to Ino the same way," Hinata told him simply. "It was very effective and will help her advance much faster, I'm sure."

Naruto's eyes bugged before flying to Ino, who was watching him and Hinata with narrowed eyes before going back to Hinata and then their teachers. "Er, I'm not so sure-"

Hinata interrupted him, shaking her head. "This is an incredible chakra control technique and increases the lethality of any taijutsu form if it can be mastered. While it is very unorthodox, it will teach her to do this quickly, efficiently and probably with greater success than doing it otherwise," Hinata said earnestly. For herself, it hadn't. She had loved every minute of it, but it had still helped because she hadn't wanted Naruto to learn about how much it affected her and she didn't want him to be disappointed in her. Ino didn't care for Naruto, so it didn't matter, even though the girl seemed to cuddle one of them each night. And even if it did, Ino had always been a friend, and was very much more so this time around, so it could be used to find out where Ino stood with her trust in them and how she felt about Naruto, be it friend or other, which were the white-eyed girl's ulterior motives.

It was hard to pretend to be asleep when your breathing was slightly heavier while watching the couple kiss and cuddle and while cuddling the blonde-haired boy in the middle of the night. Ino hadn't begun to cuddle closer to them during the nights until their second night there, but it had been a constant occurrence since. After that second night, she latched on to whoever was closest, and Hinata wasn't sure if it was something that she did on purpose, or if she was really just that tired the first night after playing tag.

Naruto sighed and looked at Ino. "While awkward, she's right. What we're trying to do is teach you to pull out chakra and do that technique while under stress. When I taught it to Hinata-chan, I ran my fingers up and down her sides, tickling her, and her stomach and threatened to go to other places if she didn't make it. She always did, managing to get it right before my hands actually went anywhere. I won't do it if you say no, though," he told her, wanting to be the gentleman he knew to be. Jiraiya would have been furious! But that was part of why he made a point of doing so.

Ino's initial reaction was to say not only 'No!', but a big, fat, 'Hell no!'. However, Hinata's voice interrupted her first. "Ino, I promise you will learn it much more quickly this way. The desire to not be touched will help you achieve the results you want."

"Wait a minute," Kurenai said, even while Anko rubbed her hands together mischievously. "This is a Genin team, not a bondage game. We-"

"Go ahead," Ino said, shocking everyone but Hinata.

"Ino-" Kurenai began before getting cut off by Ino.

"No, they're right. It'll help me want to get it done faster and, simply put, I'm a kunoichi. I run the risk of far worse than this if I'm ever caught, and Naruto is a good guy. I know he'll stop if I tell him to." She looked down at him in equal parts fear and accusation. "Right?"

Naruto nodded quickly.

"And Hinata will be here," Ino finished. Kurenai still frowned in displeasure, but Anko looked absolutely giddy.

"I'll watch them, Kurenai-chan, don't worry," Anko said, meeting eyes with the red-eyed woman who nodded and left. Ultimately, it was Ino's choice, but that didn't mean she had to like it. Anko turned back around and sat on a stump, crossing her legs and resting her chin in her palm as she grinned to watch the show. "Continue whenever."

Hinata turned to Naruto and said, "do it just like you did with me and it'll be fine."

Naruto nodded and stepped up to Ino. "Alright, you've got five seconds to cut the rope before I start."

Ino nodded and began to concentrate, then turned to watch the rope as she let her first wedge of chakra hit it, causing it only to flatten slightly. "What? Why isn't it cutting at all?" She asked, looking at Naruto and Hinata.

"Because twigs snap. These aren't hard, they're softer and malleable, so the wedges must be sharp enough to cut, not push to break," Hinata explained.

Ino paled as Naruto began to count down from five. She closed her eyes and then looked over at the same spot, letting her wedge hit the rope and saw it simply begin to flatten again, though there was one strand of about a hundred woven parts that seemed slightly frayed now. _'Oh Kami...'_

Naruto's hand lightly traced the outside of her shoulder and trailed down her arm, leaving goosebumps where his fingers had touched her bare skin.

Ino tried again and again to make the rope snap, getting more frantic as Naruto's hand stopped going lower on her arm, but instead stayed on her shoulder and began to gently caress her neck and collarbone.

"In ten seconds, I'm going to go to the center of your neck and then straight down to your belly button. Unless you want me to touch your stomach, cut the rope," he said, beginning to count down slowly. "Ten, nine, eight..."

Ino hit the rope with another wad of chakra, having forgotten to even shape it when he reached six.

"Remember to think sharp blades, Ino," Hinata said, watching with her Byakugan active as Naruto resumed at three. There were two more attempts before he finished counting, so he moved his hand slowly to her neck, quirking an eyebrow as she completely stopped trying and tilted her head back before he slowly moved his finger down her sternum, between her small breasts and then circled her belly button.

"Remember to keep trying, Ino," he told her, getting very close and speaking quietly. "Don't stop just because my hand is moving. If you get it, I'll stop wherever I'm at and won't go further. You've got thirty seconds before my hand begins to rise, and it won't be going to your neck. Thirty, twenty-nine, twenty-eight..."

As he continued to touch her tummy and gently probe her belly button through her shirt, Ino took the thirty seconds to make several slow attempts at cutting the rope, taking her time to form and sharpen the blade She finally managed to make it actually cut a couple of strands with the last attempt before Naruto's soft voice stopped chanting numbers to her.

"Zero," he told her quietly, watching her face as her eyes closed and then he let his warm hand flatten on her stomach and rise to the underside of her small breasts. She swallowed heavily and began to take shallower breaths until his hands stopped just below their curve, letting her left breast rest between his thumb and index finger as if waiting, and then began to slowly massage his way down and back up. "You have one minute, and then I do this same thing under your shirt," he told her, getting a nod with her eyes still closed and an expulsion of breath as her body worked against her, trying to tell her not to work with her higher brain functions.

Hinata watched carefully as Ino's body began to betray her and work against her attempts to fight. Her nipples hardened and she could see chakra beginning to concentrate around her middle as her body attempted to prepare itself thanks to the hormones raging throughout her body. Naruto's mate had to hand it to the bound girl; she was faring better than Hinata had.

It was difficult, Ino realized. His hand was warm, soft, gentle and felt _so_ good! Kunoichi tended to develop faster than civilian women because of the stress on their bodies causing them to mature faster as it initiated their hormonal development so their bodies adapted more quickly and efficiently to the high level of physical activity they went through. And now three years of development was working against her.

Through lidded eyes, Ino focused as heavily as she could on her chakra, now at just under half of its initial levels thanks to flagrant use and began to batter away at the rope again. Having twice as long now, she again took her time, having actually seen an improvement the last time and sharpened her chakra. But the next time she cut, she was focusing too much on Naruto's hand as he gently squeezed her skin beneath her chest with his fingers and cut the tree rather than the actual rope.

"Focus, Ino," Naruto said as Ino moaned in both disappointment and satisfaction, close enough that she could feel the heat coming from his body. "Remember to sharpen your chakra and aim. Don't let anything else cloud your judgement. Twenty-two, twenty-one, twenty," he continued, getting a whimper from the blonde girl as she let her head lull to the side as his quiet voice echoed in her mind before she realized he was in single digits and she began to focus again.

"Zero," he said, very slowly moved his hand down until he reached bare skin. He flattened his hand on her tummy and began to let it rise, underneath of her shirt, massaging his way up as her skin heated. "Keep focusing. Don't stop, Ino."

"Don't stop," the blonde girl repeated quietly, not sure herself if she was trying to rally her own defenses or talking to Naruto's wonderful hand.

"Break the rope, Ino," Naruto continued as his hands reached warm, rounded flesh the size of lemons, just barely a hand full. He again began to gently caress her and move his hand down and back up, not actually doing more than letting his hand bump against her developing breasts as he had done above her shirt. "One more minute, and then I have free reign over your chest. Sixty, fifty-nine..."

Ino blew air out of her nose heavily, trying to focus her energy and, in the back of her mind, angry he was giving her so much time while being thankful at the same time. She watched the wedge this time as it hit the rope and realized that it was losing its form as it hit the rope and tree. She repeated it twice more and found the same problem, so she added more power to the next one. It was difficult to compress the chakra and make the wedge 'harder', for lack of a better way to phrase it, and still keep it sharp while forcing it through at the same time. She threw the blade at the rope and saw it cut slightly, but noticed that the wedge still lost its shape, though not nearly as badly as before. So, she doubled the power she had just put into it as Naruto's voice stopped chanting.

"Zero," he told her, slowly, gently, but firmly raising his hand and cupping her breast. He could feel her still building energy by the rope, so he knew she was still working and then he rolled a hardened nipple on her breast between his thumb and forefinger, getting Ino's eyes to suddenly widen as she gasped loudly and climaxed at the same time she sent the wedge into the tree.

Having lost her sudden focus, the chakra she sent into the tree reacted immediately and responded to the intent of its caster and became very sharp and sudden as she reacted on instinct as her mind focused on the sudden and intense orgasm as it hit and, just like the girl's climax through herself, it rocketed through the tree, slicing a third of the trunk clean through and cutting Ino loose. Naruto immediately pulled his hands out from under her shirt and wrapped them around Ino as she fell into him from the tree, having passed out as the new experience claimed her along with the loss of so much chakra.

"Ino? Ino!" Naruto began to panic as the girl stopped responding. "Oh Kami! I killed her!"

"Naruto!" Hinata said loudly, getting the boy's attention enough to calm him down. "She's okay, just passed out. She, er, used a lot of chakra in that last one," Hinata said, not sure she should tell him that Ino just had a massive orgasm that knocked her unconscious. They didn't fool around often enough yet for Naruto to recognize the scent that was suddenly in the air to their new senses. And Hinata probably wouldn't have noticed it had she not watched the whole thing happen.

"Oh, thank Kami," Naruto moaned, putting Ino into a bridal carry with one arm under her shoulders and the other under her knees to take her back to camp. It was a short distance and the most comfortable for Ino and he felt guilty for what he had just done.

Hinata followed him, giving him orders. "Just put her in the tent and she'll be fine. She did better than I did the first time," Hinata said.

Naruto snorted. "You got it and stopped me before I got that far."

Hinata nodded. "I know. Apparently, that was a stupid mistake."

"Huh?" Naruto asked, getting ignored.

Still sitting on the stump, Anko's panties were dripping as she finally realized everyone was gone. "Holy shit! I've gotta get the brat to teach me that!"

She was very sure she and Kurenai would be busy taking care of needs that evening after everyone went to bed early. Very early.

xXxXxXx

Later that night, Naruto went off alone to find a secluded area to meditate and try to get in touch with the sleeping Kyuubi. He and Hinata had noticed that their bodies were beginning to mature and grow faster than they had originally, and both of them were getting muscle definition and tone that they would have killed for before coming back. Muscles were becoming more dense and powerful without becoming bulky, they were gaining strength even beyond what they should have while training their bodies and they were both wanting answers since only Naruto was using weights. So, Hinata suggested trying to rouse the sleeping vixen and ask.

Meanwhile, Hinata was sitting in the three Genin's shared tent and reading a scroll from the Hyuuga archive when Ino woke up with a start. The blonde rose quickly and looked around before remembering what happened with a sigh.

"Good evening, sleepy head," Hinata teased lightly with a smile.

Ino blushed fiercely and looked away from Hinata, ashamed at what she knew happened and wondering if Hinata knew, though she was pretty sure she did. "I'm sorry, I-"

"There's nothing to be sorry about, Ino-chan," Hinata comforted the blonde. "I know what Naruto-kun's touch can do. He's just incredibly gentle and our bodies mature much faster than a civilian's. Take that into account with little or no experience, and it feels almost overwhelming sometimes."

Ino could only nod in agreement. "What do you mean we mature faster?" She asked, well beyond doubting the girl's word now. Even Naruto seemed to have more knowledge than she had expected and she decided after only days with her team that she couldn't take anything for granted anymore. Especially when her knowledge seemed so inadequate.

Hinata nodded sadly, wishing they covered this in the Academy classes for those who were training to become kunoichi. "As you know, girls will begin to physically mature at pretty much any point from eight and above, usually closer to twelve or thirteen at the latest. What they don't tell us in those lessons from the Academy is that all of the physical requirement that come to those training to become ninja forces our bodies to produce more Estrogen and other such hormones that can not only start our physical maturation earlier, but can make it progress faster than the average civilian. And, without having the chance to ... explore that side of things, it can hit us a little harder once we _do_ end up experiencing it."

Ino swallowed thickly, feeling somewhat more comfortable since Hinata was being so sensible and comforting about all of this. "So," she swallowed again, "it wasn't wrong?" She asked quietly, not sure if she wanted to hear the answer.

"No," Hinata said with a smile and wondering how the girl hadn't explored this yet considering she was, until recently, one of Sasuke's most avid stalkers. "What happened hit you rather hard, but that is to be expected if either you haven't had much experience with that type of thing or if you're more sensitive than others or just enjoyed it," she told the blushing girl simply.

"And like I said, I know how Naruto's touch can affect you. He affects me the same way," Hinata told Ino wistfully, noticing her blush intensify greatly and, having plenty of experience reading people, continued, "but you already know about that."

Ino coughed shamefully at Hinata's knowing tone and immediately thought that Hinata had been aware when she spied on their ... sessions. "I d-didn't mean to," Ino defended herself quickly. "I went back for my hair scrunchy and saw and ... then I couldn't stop watching," she trailed off, not sure how this was going to affect the team or their friendships.

For her own part, Hinata was surprised that the girl had spied on her and Naruto-kun when they masturbated each other. She remembered Ino letting her hair down before that experience and realized she didn't really care if the blonde girl watched them. She knew she wouldn't want to be seen naked, and she pretty much was during that experience, but it wasn't anything Ino didn't already know about.

Except for maybe Naruto-kun's bits.

"It's okay, Ino-chan," Hinata said as Ino quieted, obviously nervous. "Just don't go spreading it around and let it remain between those who are already aware of it, and neither myself or Naruto-kun will be upset."

Ino risked a glance up to Hinata's face and asked, "you aren't mad at me?"

Hinata shook her head. "No, not at all. There may be times when we have to share rooms or take covers where we have to see things like that, or even with each other, so it's not a big deal for me. Naruto-kun may be a little shocked, but will be okay with it. And, most importantly, we trust you and that you won't hurt us by spreading things like this around."

Ino immediately shook her head. "No! Never." She would admit that she had considered it, but was pretty sure there would be major hell to pay and she honestly respected her teammates. They treated her wonderfully and took time out to train her up to their level, which she would freely admit was much higher than her own. And she _knew_ she would not be able to advance in any meaningful way if she had been in the team she had been groomed for with Shikamaru and Chouji. They were great guys, but neither wanted to really become anything more than mediocre and average.

Hinata smiled at Ino's assurance and shook her head. "If you hadn't already, I didn't think you would. I'm just pointing it out."

"How did you know I was there?" Ino asked, curious despite admitting her guilt of voyeurism.

"I didn't," Hinata admitted. "But your face got really red when I mentioned what Naruto-kun does to me and I've had a lot of experience in reading people and realized it wasn't just innuendo you were thinking about. You filled in the rest."

Ino gaped at Hinata in shock. "You tricked me," she mumbled, more to herself.

Hinata laughed quietly. "Yes, but by having done so, we've cleared the air about that and now no one has to be uncomfortable about it and we can talk about that type of thing freely." Hinata saw Ino blush again and look down, obviously hesitant about something. Taking note of her previous words, Hinata thought she understood. "Would you like to talk about it? I wouldn't mind," she said soothingly.

Ino was quiet for several moments before taking a deep breath. "I ... never really thought about ... sex ... before beyond knowing it was something you did when you were married, that it was supposed to feel good and that it was something that ... Sasuke," she felt an odd metallic taste on her tongue as she thought of her already-lost crush on the last Uchiha, "would have to do to revive his clan."

"You've really never even masturbated?" Hinata asked, shocked despite herself. She had thought all of the kunoichi would have done that by now. Even in her original past, she had done so to the thought of Naruto on several occasions. Never while away with her team, of course. Kiba and Akamaru's nose and Shino's bugs were all far too sensitive to be discrete, but at home, most definitely.

Ino shook her head in embarrassment. "No. I've been ... um ..."

"Aroused?" Hinata supplied, making Ino nod.

"Yes, that, but I never really acted on the urges. I tried once, but didn't get too far before it started to hurt a little. I was close to chaffing and had to use lotion for a few days."

Hinata nodded once with a look of revelation on her face. "Ah. It sounds like you were too dry and, while there normally isn't a way to do it incorrectly, there are ways to basically be too active if you're totally dry," Hinata explained, remembering her own first attempt. "If you tried the slightly more advanced form of it and actually put your finger in, rather than rubbing yourself, it will definitely hurt before it feels good if you aren't wet enough. That's one of the reasons rape is so horrible. If the girl isn't aroused first, then there can be ripping or tearing. It's the same thing with a finger, but not quite as bad since fingers are smaller and we are generally much more gentle and can stop when we want."

Ino frowned at that bit of knowledge. "I really could have done without that visualization," she said blandly.

"Perhaps," Hinata said with a conceding nod, "but the explanation helped you understand a little better and will make it more likely that you'll remember."

Ino eyed Hinata askance for a moment before saying, "you're telling me this for a reason, aren't you. My family teaches us to watch people and read their body language and try to see ulterior motives also. I'm not nearly as good at it as my father since I usually don't do it, but it's kind of obvious."

Hinata was silent while both girls eyed each other, gauging and evaluating. "I am, yes," she finally admitted after several long moments. "One reason is because it's true; if you aren't ready, you can't go that far by fingering yourself and I wanted you to know in case you wanted to try it again or wanted to ask some questions about it."

"Well, definitely not in a tent," Ino mumbled with a blush as Hinata basically told her to try it again.

Hinata smiled. "We wouldn't begrudge you, but yes, probably not until Naruto-kun knows. He doesn't know the smell of sex yet, but will eventually, I'm sure." Hinata dutifully ignored Ino's blush. "Also, I wanted to slip in how serious it can be since we _did_ bring up the topic earlier today if you get caught and have to deal with rape."

Suddenly, Ino had an epiphany and didn't know if she should be happy or scared of it. "You're also teaching me to get out of bonds if I'm fully disarmed or even naked," Ino said, watching Hinata very carefully.

Hinata looked down at the scroll she had put in her lap and remained quiet for nearly a minute. Yes, she was worried that Ino would be raped. It was something that had nearly happened to the girl when she was only fifteen. If Chouji hadn't rescued her, there would be no telling what may have happened to her. She had always remained tight-lipped about the whole thing and it had affected her, even though she hadn't really acted too differently. While there wasn't any real evidence to support that she was nearly raped, Chouji's report had said he found her with clothing ripped and in a room with three men when he ripped the roof off and found her.

She had done enough medical treatments on Ino as Tsunade's apprentice and knew the girl was still a virgin even up to the point of going back in time, or at least a month before that from the last check-up, and knew nothing too serious had happened in the conventional sense, and Chouji's report said all the men were clothed still, so she hadn't been forced in some other way yet, but apparently, it was very close and had affected the girl's mind a little, making her very skittish and more apt to kill than subdue her male opponents.

"I like you, Ino-chan," Hinata finally began. "Naruto-kun and I both think that you can be great and want to help you with everything. But, we have both noticed that you're very beautiful," she again ignored Ino's fierce blush, "and can tell you are going to become far more so and wanted to protect you. It was actually Naruto-kun's idea to push you harder and to make sure you could escape being bound up."

"So, having him grope me while teaching me that?" She led, hoping Hinata would explain.

"That was part of it, yes," Hinata admitted. "It was my idea, just so you don't get upset with him, but I was also serious when I said that it could help you learn it faster. Naruto-kun's touches are wonderful, and, though I didn't realize it at the time, your body wanted it to continue and got your hormones flowing so that you wouldn't be able to think nearly as well as if you had adrenaline pumping and could think more clearly. While it may have slowed down your learning a little, having you focus so hard on the technique while like that meant you were putting more of your mind to it than if I just had you playing with a rope and trying to cut it while tied taut between two trees like Naruto-kun suggested."

Ino nodded thoughtfully. It was logical and, while very pleasant, definitely something that was so outside of her comfort zone that she was wanting it over just as much as she wanted it to continue. "I suppose you're right. At least, it seems reasonable. But I'm going to have a hard time looking at Naruto the same way for a while," she admitted with another blush.

Hinata smiled. "Don't worry too much about it. He doesn't realize that you had an orgasm. He thought you passed out from chakra exhaustion, which is mostly true, as that was probably why your orgasm hit you hard enough to knock you out. Orgasms release a large rush of chakra through your entire system and you didn't have a whole lot left, after all."

"It was also strong as hell," Ino admitted without thinking, going round-eyed as she realized what she had said, making Hinata laugh.

"True," the blue-haired girl said. "I only wish I had let him get that far when he first taught it to me."

Frowning, Ino asked, "um, does this mean I passed?"

Hinata shook her head. "Nope. You have to be able to cut the rope within five seconds in order to pass. I would recommend continuing with the same method of being bound and letting Naruto-kun ... _distract_ you in order to learn to do it faster, but if you don't feel comfortable with it, then we can think of another way first."

"I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to keep going the same way," Hinata said to Ino's embarrassment. "And I'll be perfectly okay with it if you want to. Naruto-kun needs to get more comfortable around us and, to be honest, if we're comfortable around each other, it will make other situations much less embarrassing or awkward if we're okay with having to do different things. If we can be open sexually, then we can also take care of our needs in our tent without having to worry about another person's reactions as masturbation is a perfectly natural thing to do. Also, Naruto-kun can do some minor healing jutsu and may need to see us in various forms of undress to heal things, and we wouldn't want him distracted while performing such a dangerous techniques if we needed him to."

Ino squeaked. "Naked?"

"Possibly," Hinata said. "I'm not saying we should get naked and learn each others' bodies any time soon, or at all, but being able to do these things means seeing each other won't be as distracting. We never know when we'll be attacked at night and pajamas and armored sleeping mesh are both very easy to destroy. It's a common occurrence for an enemy shinobi to try to take a girl's clothes off during a fight so they will work as hard to maintain their modesty as to stay in the fight, which makes it much more difficult."

"Really?" Ino asked with a pale face.

"Perhaps 'common' wasn't the proper term, but it happens, especially with sleeping clothes, yes," Hinata said with a shrug. "Women try to remain modest. Look at Sakura and Anko for example. Sakura would probably curl up into a ball and try to hide herself while Anko would keep fighting, not even caring if she was swinging left and right with both hands and breasts. The first would die or be captured while Anko-sensei would probably kill whoever it was just for the satisfaction it would bring."

Ino took a deep breath, making up her mind. "I ... will stick with your training, then. It's a little embarrassing, but you're right on all counts. We do have to be comfortable around each other."

Hinata smiled. If Ino would be cause to have less Naruto play time, then she could cure all of their problems this way. Hinata knew Naruto found the girl attractive and she certainly respected Ino and knew she was a great girl with a wonderful personality that was only getting better now that she had seemingly forgotten about Sasuke. She knew Naruto had even had a crush on Ino for a few months after returning with Jiraiya from his two and a half year training trip. Ino had worked with Naruto and Hinata's team several times and they had bonded fairly well. While Ino had been suspicious of pretty much all men after her capture and rescue aside from a very small few, she had felt safe and trusting of Naruto, which allowed them an interesting and friendly bond. And, since he was still worried about her after coming back, even more so after being teamed up with her, he did what he could to help train her up. That was one of the reasons Hinata had brought up Naruto and bringing in other girls. She had, long ago, put consideration into sharing him in the hopes that it would mean she could have him when it appeared that Sakura was warming up to him after his return. But now, with being on a team with Ino, Hinata felt like it could still work out this way.

And Ino really _should_ get to learn the experience of a wonderful orgasm that Naruto was actually _trying_ to get out of the girl. They were _so_ much better!

Now, Hinata just had to convince Naruto to take the spot in the middle instead of the outside like he had been doing so Ino would cuddle with him instead of the Hyuuga heiress. It wasn't that Hinata wasn't flattered, but she would have to work both Naruto and Ino in order to get them thinking about it, though she was sure Ino would be thinking about it quite a bit in the coming days, perhaps weeks.

xXxXxXx

Three days later showed Team Eight returning to Konoha at mid-morning, all happy to be home. They had actually enjoyed their excursion and the training, but each was looking forward to a hot bath and their beds.

Ino's training in her new technique had progressed relatively well. Each time they did the exercise, Naruto would lessen the time he gave the other blonde while starting at the same point on her shoulder and always taking the same paths. The difference, however, was that she still hadn't gotten any faster. So, as Naruto's time lessened, so too did her willingness to stop him.

During their second attempt, Ino had tried putting more power into her technique, but was having difficulty keeping it in the proper form, so Naruto had progressed to her breasts and spent a good time working on those before lowering his hand to her thighs before Ino finally got the rope to snap.

Hinata was pleased to note that Ino hadn't passed out again and had lasted longer before climaxing the second time, though Hinata was still running interference with Naruto so he wasn't aware of what he was doing to the girl. As each session went, she lasted longer and longer. As did each session, which Kurenai was not willing to point out but had sure as hell noticed. Still, she could see it working as well as the benefits of having the technique, so she allowed it to continue. Though it could also have been the fact that Anko decided to teach her the same technique the same way.

That aside, Ino's reserves were growing admirably, though still not as quickly as she would have liked, and they all got field survival training that easily trumped the Academy's and worked on scouting and tracking without bloodlines. All in all, it was a a good week that had them all learning new things.

"How's it goin', Old Man?" Naruto called out happily as they entered the Hokage's office, causing Kurenai to palm her face.

"Naruto, you don't call our leader 'old man'," the red-eyed woman said under her breath.

Sarutobi chuckled merrily. It had been rather boring without Naruto around for the past week. "It's not a problem, Kurenai-san. Naruto and I have a history together so long as he remembers his decorum around political figures."

_'Fat chance of that,'_ Naruto thought while he smiled brightly on the outside.

"Of course, Hokage-sama," Kurenai stated.

"Well, go ahead and report."

Anko had been the one chosen by the two Jounin to give reports, so she took a breath and began. "We went on a D-class mission to Kensei to look for two lost boys, but it turned out that they were found by five refugees from Mist who fed and took care of them until we found them. Apparently, the boys were looking for something called the 'Crystal Caves' that is reported to be collapsed now. The men elected to remain in the forest around Kensei and we took the children, unharmed, back to the village and spent the night after Naruto entertained the children with stories."

Sarutobi nodded. "Were you able to get the refugees' intentions or find out what their plans were?" He asked. It wasn't their place to determine what the refugees' intentions were, but it would be good to know.

Naruto interrupted Anko, having been the one who kept clones on the men for the following week after getting the boys. "I had clones watching them until yesterday, using a henge to look like various animals. They're just regular guys who were a part of the civil defense group that fought bloodline users and there was apparently a bloodline user in the group and they couldn't figure out who it was, so they were just going to kill everyone, so they all split. They weren't trained fighters or anything and just want to relocate."

Sarutobi sighed and nodded. "Yes. Reports show that the people in power recruit people into those civil defense groups whether the person wants to be there or not. I can fully believe they just want to escape all of the killing they're forced to do. So, what of your training week?"

Ino blushed furiously as Kurenai took up explaining, careful to omit the ... naughty version of events. "Quite good, actually. We worked mostly on tracking and ghost running, setting up and taking down camp, finding food from the land, taijutsu and other such basics and some chakra control and working on reserves and I think we're progressing well."

"Excellent," Sarutobi said happily. "Go ahead and take the next two days off from missions to recover from your week and then come back in for your next mission.

"Hokage-sama," Kurenai began, "is it possible for Anko and I to talk with you about two topics of the future?"

Sarutobi immediately caught the hint and realized that, with only Team Eight and himself in the room, this meant that the two Jounin now knew about the time-traveling duo and only the Yamanaka was left that didn't. "I'm ordering from Moriki's Barbecue around seven tonight. If the two of you would like to be here then, I would be happy to share the meal with the two of you."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama," Kurenai and Anko said together.

xXxXxXx

Ino bounced merrily at Naruto's side while Hinata walked sedately on his other, attached to him with her arms around his waist as she and her two teammates made their way down the road to Ichiraku Ramen where Naruto had offered to buy the two girls breakfast before they went their separate ways, her face flush with excitement as she held out her first payment stub for their mission. This had been the first one that was not to be paid out of petty cash and it was like a milestone in her ninja career to have paper evidence that she was advancing in a way that sparring and praise just could not provide.

"Ino-chan," Hinata said happily, "calm down. You have to cash it in before you can spend it anyway."

"I know," Ino said, sounding affronted the little Hyuuga would even doubt her. Spending money was something that she was good at! "But this is first check voucher I've ever received, so I'm happy. I didn't even think we got these for D-rank missions."

"Normally we don't, but any missions that require us to leave the village will usually allow us to get them," Naruto said. "I used to do a lot of D-rank missions while I was in the Academy for extra money and would sometimes go and help out some of the farmers in their fields or do some minor deliveries and figured out he does that as a little way to make the jobs seem more rewarding."

Ino's excitement abated some as she was forced to recognize Naruto's status as an orphan until he wrapped an arm around both girls' shoulders and squeezed them tightly. "And as soon as we do a few more, we can go _shopping_! But I don't want to be tricked into wearing a dress again." He said happily, making both girls giggle. They had put a dress in the middle of a pile of shirts and he had just put it on and walked out until he realized it bunched around his knees. Still, he had enjoyed the experience and both he and Hinata were outgrowing their new clothes again, so it would be needed anyway.

"That reminds me, I still need to wear that dress you bought me," Ino said.

"We were thinking about going to the lake," Hinata suggested. "We can go out for dinner afterwards and we can all dress up," she continued, getting excited at the idea of doing something nice.

Naruto was less thrilled. "What!" He shrieked like a little girl, causing Ino to blush and giggle.

"Oh, don't complain, Naruto-kun. You'll take us out and enjoy it. I even had Matsuki-san size you with some formal clothing."

Naruto pouted for a moment before huffing. "Fine, but I get to choose the first game we play."

Feeling mischievous and having lost a little of her normal reservations towards Naruto and naughty displays after what was effectively a couple of hours of constant groping and several mind-shattering orgasms, Ino poked Naruto in the side and said, "and if you're really lucky, we'll let you put the tanning lotion on us."

As Naruto face-planted into the ground, Ino realized what she had said and looked with scared eyes to Hinata who was giggling at her boyfriend on the ground. "That's a wonderful idea, Ino-chan. We may as well relax and enjoy the sun while we're there," Hinata told the girl, noticing how Ino was worried about her reaction.

Realizing Hinata was okay with her comment, Ino toed Naruto's fallen form. "Do you think he'll wake up soon?" She asked Hinata.

"He's not dead," Naruto said from the ground before hopping up. "And that's a cruel joke, Ino-chan." She simply smiled at him, not repentant in the least.

They were nearly to Ichiraku's when Ino spied Team Seven and their Jounin sensei coming from their morning meet and heading to the Hokage Tower for their missions. "Hey Sakura!" The blonde called out, stepping forward slightly to wave her hand high over her head and out of Naruto's one-armed hug that he had reapplied to both girls.

The pink-haired girl looked up in confusion as she heard her name called out and saw Ino beaming at her from about thirty yards away. "Hey, Ino-pig! When did you get back?"

Suddenly, Ino found herself furious. In two and a half weeks with Team Eight, she had been treated with an incredible respect and been looked out for in a way that she and Sakura had once shared before Sasuke had come into the picture and broken them apart. Even now, Ino had been perfectly cordial and polite and was just insulted in Sakura's second word.

As her anger peaked, Ino took off in a flash and appeared right in front of Sakura and decked the green-eyed girl, sending her flying backwards a dozen feet, much to both teams' shock. Out of instinct, both Kiba and Kakashi moved to intercept the blonde-haired girl from doing any more damage to their single kunoichi, but both found themselves with a kunai to their throats, courtesy of Hinata and Naruto, respectively, while a kage bunshin of Hinata closed the primary tenketsu of Kakashi's back to drastically restrict the amount of chakra available to him so he couldn't cast jutsu. And only Naruto knew how to reopen them without the Byakugan.

"Don't even think about it," Naruto said. "This is between them."

"You're attacking a Jounin of Konoha," Kakashi said dangerously, ashamed to admit that he had just allowed two fresh _Genin_ to get the drop on him and nearly incapacitate him. "What you're doing is against the law."

"Actually," Hinata said, "we are stopping you from attacking our teammate after she was verbally assaulted by another kunoichi of equal rank. Therefore, this is between them."

"Let us go, Hinata," Kiba growled out. "You could help, Uchiha!"

Sasuke snorted in derision and watched the two kunoichi with a mild amount of amusement. He knew his teammates were fine since not even the dead last of their class was stupid enough to hurt someone in public.

"What the hell is wrong with you!" Ino screamed with her hands on her hips as Sakura looked up from the ground at the angry blonde with a great amount of fear and shock. "I was being friendly and nice and you decide to insult me?"

"Wha-what?" Sakura stuttered out, confused. "This is what we _do_! We're rivals! ... We're-"

"You mean Sasuke?" Ino asked incredulously. "I'm over that pansy. All he ever does is pout, feel sorry for himself and put down others!" Ino raged, much to Sakura's shock.

"He's the best in our class!"

"And he's had other ninja giving him technique scrolls and private lessons since the Uchiha Massacre," Ino said as she rolled her eyes. "Everyone's seen him get those things in the Academy. It's no wonder he was so good, but Naruto and Hinata are a hell of a lot better than they showed and could wipe the floor with his ass!"

Unbidden, Kiba snorted and then burst into laughter as the all might Uchiha got taken down by one of his previously most avid fan girls. He didn't know what happened in two weeks, but he thought it was hilarious that the bastard was getting reamed in public. The boy didn't even care about his teammates and felt they should automatically fall to his authority and Kakashi hadn't done a thing to sway his puffed up ego, deciding to let them work it out on their own and, after two grueling weeks with Team Seven, Kiba was finally catching a break. So he laughed.

And Sasuke scowled.

"Ino, we're rivals! Why are you acting like this?" Sakura asked, wondering at the vast change in the blonde-haired girl.

"We didn't use to be," Ino said softly, finally losing her anger. "We used to be best friends and I miss that." Shaking her head, Ino looked to her teammates, seeing them holding Team Seven at kunai point and squawked in surprise. "What are you two doing!"

"Just making sure things stayed between the two of you," Hinata said as she and Naruto moved quickly to her side.

"Oh," Ino murmured out, still surprised.

Kakashi was a little upset that he let two Genin get him by surprise, and he knew he would have been able to break out of Naruto's grip with a simple taijutsu maneuver to overpower him since his chakra was lost to him for a few hours, but he respected Team Eight's commitment to each other and was proud to see them hold to his own morals so strongly. So, he didn't bother threatening them or even getting angry at them.

He just decided they would get even.

"I have to say, I'm pleased to see a fresh team that looks out for one another so strongly and with such commitment. I think you three will go quite far," Kakashi said, showing his single eye forming an upside down 'U' to let them know he was smiling.

Not really having any major bonds with the man now, Naruto grunted and motioned both girls away with a gentle hand at the small of their backs and down a side street that would allow them to get to the a different restaurant than Ichiraku's, feeling Ino could use something she would enjoy a little more. It would cost him about three times as much, but she liked the place in the future.

"You're really just letting them get away?" Sakura asked as she rubbed her aching face.

Kakashi looked over at his kunoichi and shrugged. "They were right. You insulted her for no reason and then their team was willing to back each other up without hesitation which shows dedication and trust in each other. For that, yes, I'm letting them get away with it." Amused, he continued reading his porn as they began walking towards the Hokage Tower, all silent as they thought through various things.

It wasn't until they had walked three blocks that Kakashi turned the page and found that it was blank. Narrowing his eyes, he flipped the page again and found the the next page, as well, was blank.

Suspecting foul play, he flipped through and found that every single page but the two that were open were blank and then he recognized chakra. Squeezing the book firmly, it exploded into a puff of smoke, proving it had been a kage bunshin of his book, though he had no idea how it had happened, but he knew _who_ had done it. Checking his pockets, he found that he was missing the two other copies he had on him as well.

"NA-RU-TO!"

Just as Naruto, Hinata and Ino were sitting into the booth at the restaurant, they heard Kakashi's anguished cry of rage and frustration. Both girls look at him questioningly, causing him to smile nervously and hold up the purloined orange book. "I figured it would be fun to hold it hostage?" He said, sounding more as if he were asking than telling them.

xXxXxXx

Ino laid in bed in her pajamas after a long soak in the bath, staring at her ceiling as she thought over the past week she had spent with her team. She had stopped fighting Naruto and Hinata's knowledge after the second day and had found that they were very smart and had taken the time to answer any question she had ever asked of them. If she didn't understand why they did something in the same way as they had previously been taught, or it was something totally new, then they explained their actions and their reasons, acting more like seasoned shinobi than Academy graduates. And Ino was thankful for that, as they taught her a good many things already.

Not to mention what she was learning from her two sensei. One was teaching her new stretches that, while generally painful, actually had limbered her up a bit. There was still a long way to go before she could bend in some of the frightening ways Anko-sensei did, but there was hope to be that way soon. And the Snake Jounin was teaching her a totally new taijutsu form to go with it. One that was more lethal than the one taught at the Academy. She had even been teaching Ino several real ways to actually kill a person.

It was nasty and scary concept, but they lived in a dirty world that needed it, and she knew what she was signing on to when she decided to become a kunoichi.

Then Kurenai-sensei had been teaching them, well, mainly _her_, a massive number of chakra control exercises that Naruto and Hinata seemed to be taking even further.

Ino still wasn't sure about those two. Everything that Hinata had said was honest and sincere, but Ino felt like there was so much more that the blue-haired girl just didn't want to say, or couldn't. Everything they had been teaching her the past week was all about saving herself from something that no woman would ever want.

But it was the earnestness and drive they seemed to have to teaching it to her that had really made her stick to it, even with Naruto's hand trailing all over her body...

Ino shifted her eyes to her door and then closed them, wondering if Hinata was right. The things Naruto had done to her had been absolutely incredible and she was hoping she might be able to do them herself. Just thinking about what he had done to her and how she had reacted....

Ino let out a shuddering sigh and began to trail her hand over her neck while her other hand gently ran from her neck to her stomach as she imitated Naruto's movements on herself. She could feel her body heating and could feel her sex getting wetter, just as Hinata had talked about.

Deciding Naruto was moving too slow, Ino slid her hand under her shirt much sooner than he would have and straight up to her breasts, immediately pinching a nipple and rolling it like he did and finding herself disappointed that her own touch wasn't the same.

The hand she had at her neck dropped and slid under the band of her satin pants and she began to rub herself, taking careful note not to put her finger in like Hinata had told her about and began to moan as she rubbed herself furiously for several long minutes until she realized she just wasn't getting anywhere near close to that same kind of release Naruto had done for her.

Sighing, she gave up and rolled over. She would try it again later. At least this time, it hadn't hurt. It just didn't really feel very good.

Still, it made her wonder how in the hell Naruto was able to do that without having even touched her in the more sensitive places. And it also made her wonder how it would affect her if he did before she shook her head and growled frustratedly.

xXxXxXx

**[A/N:]** - Next chapter! A fun day at the beach and Ino asks Hinata for help and advice while a new mission gets started.

Naruto: YES! We get to go on a bodyguard mission and pro-WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!

Hokage: Say hello to your mission, this evening Team Eight.

Hinata: It's called a baby, Naruto-kun.

Anko: (While glaring at the Hokage) This is for taking all the meat, isn't it!

Omake

Hinata brushed off her backside as she got up and followed Naruto to the stream and away from the clearing, turning her head to look back at the others. "If you hear me scream, don't worry. That just means Naruto is doing his job properly."

Ino choked on her breakfast.

Paladeus


	8. The Nature of Chakra and Friendship

**Title:** Reforging The Past

**Chapter8 – **The Nature of Chakra and Friendship

**Ship:** Naruto/Hina, Naru/Harem, Naru/Hina/Ino/FemHaku/FemKyuu, Anko/Kurenai

**Author:** Paladeus

**Key:** "Speech", **"Demonic Speech"**, _'Thought'_, _**'Demonic Thought'**_

xXxXxXx

**[A/N:]** Huzzah! Longest chapter yet! This chapter has more of an explanation on my theory behind Demons, Elemental and Natural Chakra and is to delve a little more into Hinata's mindset, Ino's mindset and Kyuubi awakens.

**The game** Naruto chooses later in this chapter is one I made up to play with my ex and really is rather fun. I recommend trying it out. Well, except for the Naruto-universe aspects, of course.

**Hinata's bathing suit** (No nudity or risqué concepts, but random ads on the side) can be found at danbooru (DOT) donmai (DOT) us/post/show/64540/bare_shoulders-beach-bikini-blue_hair-breasts-clea (It actually does end after "clea" and has no other extensions.) I tried to find something for Ino, but was unable.

**Recommended Story of the Chapter:** "Naruto: Rise of the Lord of Foxes" by VFSNAKE (Naru/Hina**)**

**xXx** – Previously – **xXx**

"_Hokage-sama," Kurenai began, "is it possible for Anko and I to talk with you about two topics of the future?" _

_Sarutobi immediately caught the hint and realized that, with only Team Eight and himself in the room, this meant that the two Jounin now knew about the time-traveling duo and only the Yamanaka was left that didn't. "I'm ordering from Moriki's Barbecue around seven tonight. If the two of you would like to be here then, I would be happy to share the meal with the two of you."_

"_Thank you, Hokage-sama," Kurenai and Anko said together._

**xXx** – STORY – **xXx**

Hinata followed Naruto into his apartment, musing that she spent more time there than at her own home now, after dropping Ino off at her place. Ino had not seemed to really get back into a good mood after her encounter with Sakura and hadn't seemed inclined to talk about why she seemed to suddenly get so angry, so they didn't press her. She would come to them in time if she wanted their help. That was the very nature of trust.

Naruto simply decided to ask what kind of bathing suits they planned on wearing once the silence in the restaurant got to be too much for him, which effectively got both girls to smack him and got them all talking again. Crude, but effective. Especially since Hinata said she didn't have one and it actually _would_ require shopping for one if she didn't want to swim about naked, a concept Naruto's ears tweaked at. Ino immediately had a new project, and boys were not allowed. Everyone was happy.

Except Naruto.

"It's nice to be home," Hinata said with a sigh while Naruto immediately shucked his shirt and jacket, dropping them on top of the couch, but pausing as he bent over to take off his sandals and smirked at Hinata.

"Already thinking of my place as home, eh?" He ignored his sandals and went over to hug his grinning girlfriend. "When do you plan on moving in?"

Giggling, Hinata pushed Naruto away as he tried to kiss her. "Certainly not until _after_ you've showered! You absolutely stink!"

Naruto held his hand to his heart and feigned a hurt expression. "Tenshi-chan! You wound me! I'll have you know that is you!"

Hinata immediately glared at the idiot blonde, but the the effect was marred by her grin. "Well, I suppose you can forget my help in the shower, then."

"Damn it," Naruto muttered.

Hinata giggled once again as she plopped down on his couch. "Did you try the Kyuubi again today?" She asked, ending the teasing game while Naruto went back to removing his sandals.

"Yea, I did. She swatted at me when I tried to wake her up and I think I almost had her awake, so I think it'll be tonight or some time tomorrow," he told her. He had tried waking the demoness up each day during their week of training out of Konoha and the day before had been the first one to show any form of progress when she growled at him. Then she actually moved just that morning, which seemed to be a marked improvement.

"I can't believe she is sleeping so long. It didn't take us anywhere near as long to wake up."

Naruto grinned and got a far off look in his eyes as he remembered that morning. Hinata _jiggled_ when she woke up. "Yeah," he sighed out. Looking at the beauty on his couch, his grin turned lecherous. "Are you sure you don't want to join me in the shower?"

Hinata giggled again before she got up and gave Naruto a very thorough kiss as consolation. "You shower. I need to get home and deal with my father."

"Your father?" Naruto asked, looking disgusted. "What about him?" The man and the majority of her family had been an active negative in Hinata's life up to the point of the second invasion when the Hyuuga had been almost fully wiped out by a hit squad that bombed the entire compound. It was the nature of the Hyuuga to not look under the ground during their scans during guard duty and the entire compound had gone up, leaving only Hinata and Neji, who were on missions, and Hanabi and two servants who had been out doing various things, alive.

That kind of took care of her problem all in one go, even if it had been in one of the worst ways possible.

"Before we left to Kensei, he had been focusing on my apparent new skills. I think he's going to try and test me soon and he tends to get pissy when I don't seem to show him the respect he thinks he deserves," Hinata answered him while rolling her eyes. Internally, she couldn't help but think of how much she enjoyed speaking her mind. It was so much better than trying to keep everyone happy and she didn't have to be so self-sacrificing; especially for people whom she could tell didn't deserve such sacrifice. She still wanted the people around her to be happy, but she _didn't_ want it at her own expense when those people apparently weren't worthy of the work that keeping them happy would require of her. And her family certainly wasn't.

Naruto nodded sadly. "Yea, he's a bit of a bastard, all right."

Hinata giggled and kissed Naruto one last time as she headed to the door. "Try to wake up Sleeping Beastie and we'll see what we can do tomorrow. Ino-chan and I are going to go shopping, so we'll meet after that."

Naruto watched his girlfriend leave before looking forlornly at the bathroom. "It's probably for the best," he sighed. "Too much temptation makes Naruto an Ero-sannin."

Hinata giggled and smirked at him before leaving the room with an exaggerated waggle of her bum, just to be mean.

Watching the spot Hinata was last in, Naruto couldn't help but to think, _'Of course, with a girl like Hinata-chan, fighting it would be impossible anyway...'_

xXxXxXx

"Now that we have our meals, what did you wish to discuss?" Sarutobi asked once the silencing seals were in place and the room was secure.

"The brats told us a story about going back in time and it makes a scary amount of sense. We wanna know if it's true," Anko said bluntly as she bit into several skewers of chicken tempura. She normally didn't go for the more pricey meals since she got more with the cheaper things, but hey! The Hokage was picking up the tab!

"I see," the Sandaime said with a sigh. "I had hoped they would remain quiet about it for a little longer."

"In a way, they couldn't," Kurenai responded. "We've spent enough time with them to notice when they switch from doing more advanced stuff to the less advanced and when they hold back. We know enough higher-level techniques to see them in action before they switch. They also fight much more fluidly and with more fervor against each other than they do with Ino or ourselves and they have a knowledge that they shouldn't have since it comes with experience more than overhearing other ninja that they discuss. To anyone on the outside, their reasons make sense, but we spend too much time with them to be fooled."

"We also overheard Naruto talking about something weird on the way into Kensei while he was talking with Hinata," Anko added, taking more skewers, this time of beef. She was a growing woman and needed to keep up her strength! "They grew complacent after finding themselves in the past and during a time of peace from how they talk and spoke of things that hadn't happened yet and things like elemental chakra and tricks of the trade that I only learned once I got into Torture and Interrogation. If Fox Boy didn't have so much stamina and chakra, I'd think he was an impostor."

"Anko, don't call him 'Fox Boy'," Kurenai chided. "He probably wouldn't like it."

"He's _my_ Genin! I'll call him whatever I want!" Anko spluttered.

"He isn't a pet," Kurenai rebuked.

"As long as he's on our team, he's _my_ pet," Anko said, before changing the subject back to the main one. "But still, the two know things that they shouldn't, so something was definitely off and we were sure to know." Silently, she wondered if she could talk Hinata into getting him to wear a collar so she could tell people he was her pet.

Sarutobi nodded, having thought much the same and ignoring the pet byplay, knowing it was classic Anko. "From what they were able to tell and show me, I believe they are, indeed, from the future. Or they learned much more than they should be capable of learning and concocted this elaborate story to explain it, which I would honestly expect of Naruto, but their stories were too elaborate for a collaboration between two people."

"How so?" Kurenai asked, treating the situation more like a debriefing.

"Naruto's parentage, for one, is known only to a very small number of people. Myself and two others for sure, possibly a few who may notice their similarities. Also, Naruto is capable of performing the Rasengan, which only two people know how to perform that are still alive with a third who can do an incomplete version of it," he said, suddenly wondering how Kakashi, who was supposed to be hailed as a genius, had been unable to finish it on his own.

"Then," Sarutobi continued, "their story was far too long and with too many details to be made up, especially details they should have no business or capability of knowing. I admit they didn't tell me overly much of their history and our future, but they told me enough that is far too much to be made up considering how extreme the information was. Simply put, I was left with no alternative but to believe them."

"And Hinata knows of the Kyuubi?" Kurenai asked as Anko rocked back and forth in her seat happily as she went for more tempura.

"Yes. There was an interesting story there, as well," Sarutobi said, swiping a few skewers before Anko got them all. "But, I must trust their judgment in this. Trying to play things behind the scenes while thinking I know best makes me too likely to make things worse in the name of the greater good."

"I see," Kurenai said. And in fact, she did. The depth of detail and multiple, cohesive ones were a necessity to think through with illusions and she knew how to make small ones count and large ones even more as they were more susceptible to fail and show something wasn't right. "So, this is why you told us they were to pass no matter what, then? And why add Ino? I can understand two Jounin sensei now, but not that."

"Indeed. They're also on long-term, S-Rank missions devoted to their ultimate goals to ensure they have the funding necessary for whatever they need, along with permission to come to me for various equipment, which I will also pass on to the two of you. Any equipment in our arsenal is yours if needed."

Anko's eyes alighted in an unholy glee.

"As to why I chose the Yamanaka, it is because of her unique abilities. Her ability to steal into someone's mind for information will help tremendously with their missions. Of all of the Genin they told me would pass, which did come to happen, I realized she was the only one truly qualified-"

"What about the Uchiha?" Anko asked curiously with her mouth full of food. Gulping, she continued, "wouldn't the Sharingan help them more?" Granted, her brats had told her Orochimaru would be after the last Uchiha during the Chuunin Exams, but if they were so much better than the average Genin, they could teach him to protect himself while assisting.

"Too much bad blood, I'm afraid. Sasuke went to Orochimaru of his own free will. Apparently, the people of Konoha thought the Cursed Seal twisted his mind, but if that had been true, then you wouldn't be who you are now, would you?" Sarutobi asked rhetorically. "Sasuke was checked by Inoichi, Ino's father, to determine his mindset and the boy lusts for power and has no loyalties to Konoha. I'm taking measures in an attempt to rectify that, but I cannot ensure it will work."

"Then wouldn't those two be best to keep an eye on him?" Kurenai asked. "They know his mannerisms, his techniques and the way he thinks. They could keep an eye on him while maintaining their own training to take him out if needed."

"Yes, but he would also hinder them and grow spiteful of their progress. After their warnings, when I had Inoichi delve into Sasuke's mind, he admitted that the boy was jealous of Naruto's apparent growth in the final month at the Academy. I cannot allow that. They cannot hinder their own progress for the sake of one, no matter how valued his bloodline. There is far too much to come to let the opportunity they have to be squandered. And, as the only viable candidate to teach him how to use the Sharingan, Kakashi was needed as his instructor while Naruto and Hinata needed someone much better, to be perfectly honest."

After a brief moment of silence, filled only by Anko's open-mouthed chewing, Kurenai asked, "you really believe them, don't you?"

"I do," Sarutobi answered simply. "In as long as I've known Naruto, I have come to realize that great things will come about because of him for one reason or another. I now know what some of those things are and truly believe everything has made sense. If anyone could be capable of what happened, it would be him."

"Thank you for your time, Hokage-sama," Kurenai said as she and Anko rose and bowed, recognizing the tone of finality in the old man's voice. Just before leaving, however, Kurenai paused and turned back to her superior. "Hokage-sama? I'd like to make a request if I could..."

Sighing once finishing his conversation with Kurenai and a laughing Anko, and feeling his years, Sarutobi finished off his skewers of meat, still in his hands for the past quarter of an hour and reached to grab some more when he realized Anko had left him with nothing but a medley of vegetables and gnawed, wooden skewers. "I only got three...," he whined to himself.

xXxXxXx

"You wished to see me, Father?" Hinata asked politely after seating herself in front of her father and a few members of the family in the training dojo. She had been correct, it seemed. Her father knew she was back and wanted to gauge her new skills. She mentally frowned as she recognized Hanabi's place beside their father where the heiress was supposed to sit. Either Hanabi was being extremely forward and their father was allowing it, or they had already made the decision to send Hinata to the Cadet branch of the Hyuuga family and were only now waiting for when Hanabi was of the traditional age to be instated.

Or they were planning to send her into the Cadet Branch now.

Neither of those options were acceptable to the would-be-Uzumaki.

Dispensing with pleasantries, Hiashi got directly to the point. "You told me a week ago that your growth was due to Uzumaki Naruto, along with your new attitude. Since then, I've considered what you have told me and what I have seen and decided that a Hyuuga should not be required to lean on assistance from anyone."

Hinata allowed a frown to grace her lips as she looked her father in the eye levelly.

"However, it seems it may have worked for you, so I am willing to allow you one chance to prove that this is acceptable and that I should allow it. You will fight Hanabi now. Win, and I will allow this to continue and grow however you desire it to. Should you lose, you will be placed in the Cadet branch and Hanabi can take her place as heiress on her tenth birthday."

Hinata sighed and looked at her younger sister with pity in her eyes. "For years, I've done what I could to protect you from the fate of a seal on your forehead and to do my best to care for you where we were without a mother." Hinata shook her head and the pity in her eyes increased. "But I'm afraid I have things that I must do that require me to not be branded. I will not hold back this time."

Hanabi couldn't help herself. She snorted in amusement at her older sister. In the years since learning to walk, she was trained to fight and had never once lost to her sister. That the older girl would willingly have consigned herself to the seal to protect her, when Hanabi knew what those in the Cadet Branch suffered through and felt like she needed no such protecting, made the younger one feel unthreatened. No one would willingly consign themselves to such a fate. "I do not believe it will make a difference," she retorted in full confidence. "I have never held back, so I never allowed my growth to hinder because of it. Even if you have, then you have only hurt yourself."

"Enough of this commoner trash talk," Hiashi stated. "Take your places." In all honesty, Hiashi didn't want either of his daughters to be branded, but the clan came first. That was how it was and how it had always been and was why the Hyuuga had to be so strict to make everything remain safe for them all. Hinata was breaking tradition with her current methods and, if she wanted to continue without being reprimanded, then she had to honestly and truly prove herself. Not to himself, of course. She had already done so with her obvious growth. But to the family itself, lest they begin getting ideas and the beginnings of a revolt grow within their ranks, so he had to make her prove she was capable.

And the only way he knew to make that happen was with the threat of the Caged Bird seal. She didn't have to suddenly be perfect, but she had to show enough matured ability that her new methods worked and would be proof positive.

Both girls did as ordered and took their initial stances. Hinata was saddened to know that she had to be thorough in her sister's defeat this time. She really did once love her little sister. But the younger girl had become another Hiashi who was too self-absorbed by their bloodline to really work on anything else. When the family estate went up in one massive explosion, it had shaken the littlest Hyuuga to the core. But when she found out that relying almost exclusively on her eyes and taijutsu forms caused her to suffer tremendously at the hands of any mid to long range fighters, she had been unable to continue her life as she had and had instead taken it herself. She just had not been ready for the reality of life outside of the shelter of the clan.

While Hinata had been sad to lose a member of her family, especially to suicide, she had been surprised at how little it had actually hurt.

She held on to that feeling now as she locked eyes with Hanabi and, in that moment, the younger girl had her first doubts.

Hanabi made the first move, doing as was her usual habit and taking the offensive to directly attack. Hinata simply dodged and moved like water around her younger sister, using the adapted Jyuuken style she had created for herself in her personal training and letting the girl strike several tenketsu on her arms, shoulders and upper torso that wouldn't impair movement or mobility. "For all that talk, you are losing, _Sister_," Hanabi sneered.

"I'm simply proving Father wrong," Hinata said, much to everyone's confusion. "Now that you've closed several tenketsu, I'll show you a technique Naruto-kun taught me." Immediately, she loaded her circulatory system with chakra and blew all of her tenketsu back open, much to everyone's shock. That was something that was supposed to be impossible. Most people would destroy their chakra circulatory systems by blowing them apart sooner than reopen a blocked tenketsu and few had the raw power to do such a thing and remain able to fight as the pain was supposed to be horrible. "One down, two to go," she finished ominously.

Angry that Hinata just negated all of her previous attacks and could do something new, Hanabi closed the distance with Hinata and was about to punch a strike to the older girl's heart when Hinata spun on her heel and let out an expulsion of chakra and created a shell, knocking Hanabi back and into a wall with a grunt of pain.

As Hinata stopped her rotation, she noticed the shocked looks of everyone present and repressed the urge to smirk. They had refused to allow her to see the scroll for this technique, but she had learned it from Neji in her past and was proud to see their faces as they assumed she had learned it on her own. "Two down, one to go."

Hanabi shuddered, but refused to give up. This wasn't supposed to happen! Hinata could talk if she wanted to. It would only make defeat that much worse, but it wasn't _her_ defeat Hanabi had thought of earlier, but Hinata's!

With much more care and consideration, Hanabi circled Hinata, trying to gauge the older girl who was looking at her with cold and unfeeling eyes; eyes that had never been directed at Hanabi before.

Seeing a moment of hesitation in Hanabi, a moment in the youngest Hyuuga's eyes that showed a fear and doubt that only a little girl could express, Hinata decided to try and change her little sister. She couldn't turn out any worse than she had been, after all, and could only really get better. Maybe it would even get her father to wizen up. If nothing else, then at least it would put the Hyuuga clan leader and her little sister in their places. "Father says we, as Hyuuga, are not to rely on anyone else to achieve our growth and development. But he's wrong."

Hanabi chanced a glance at her father and noticed his narrowed eyes as her own widened at Hinata's audacity before the older girl continued, drawing Hanabi's attention once again.

"As Hyuuga, we are taught wonderful chakra control and are one of the most deadly in close combat, that is for sure. But, without teammates who can take care of mid and long range fighters, we are practically waiting to be killed by their techniques or abilities. Therefore, it would be impossible for us not to rely on others, since we must do so for two-thirds of the enemies we may encounter. This is what my Naruto-kun taught me."

Smirking evilly, Hinata changed her voice to sound darker, more ominous as she continued. "And there are so many more techniques that we could learn and use that are currently not in the Hyuuga arsenal that could make us far more lethal."

Sensing danger, Hanabi leapt backwards and distanced Hinata from her. But that would only prove Hinata's point.

Holding her hands out towards Hanabi, palms outwards and fingers pointing at the littlest Hyuuga, Hinata shot out with wedges of chakra that had enough power behind them to be visible to the naked eye had anyone there not had their Byakugan active. The power was required to make the distance and maintain lethality.

Hanabi ducked as the chakra projectiles rushed overhead and knocked ten holes in a rough circular pattern where her head and torso had been, all positioned in a way to prove she was only alive because Hinata made it so.

"Three down, and the finale to go," Hinata said, finally glaring at the younger Hyuuga while the rest stared in shock at the wall. The control necessary for such a technique, and the power as well, should have made such a thing nearly impossible, though Hinata had come up with a method around the power limitation to make the technique work a little better that she wouldn't teach the others. That was why they used short bursts from their bodies. The farther away the chakra was, the higher the degree of difficulty in controlling it. No one had ever learned how to make the chakra remain firm enough to survive its flight in the air. Hiashi was clan head and one of the more powerful in recent Hyuuga history, and he would have had no desire to even attempt such a thing in battle as it would drain him considerably! But Hinata looked perfectly normal. And if _that_ wasn't her finale, they weren't sure they would be comfortable learning what was.

Hinata flicked her hands harshly as if trying to fling off an unwanted substance and they were coated in the green chakra of the chakra scalpels while the blades were tinted blue, designed to cut like a blade rather than only under the skin. For the first time during the fight, Hinata rushed Hanabi who only stood in wide-eyed fear as her older sister, turned predator, came forward quickly.

"Divination Field of Pain – 64 Strikes!" Hinata yelled out, keeping the chakra around her hands as she rushed forward and began to strike tenketsu at an alarmingly fast pace.

"AH!" Hanabi cried out in pain with each strike. This wasn't the normal attack it was apparently named after. This felt like liquid fire pooling on each of her tenketsu that didn't go away with a new strike.

Hinata paused after the final series of attacks on her younger sister just before her hand hit Hanabi's heart, the final attack Hinata had begun using during the war to ensure death of any enemies that was almost performed out of habit. The technique she had just used left pierced skin anywhere she touched, but more than that, it damaged the opponents' chakra circulatory systems. Normally, it would destroy each tenketsu, but Hinata had made the effort to keep her output small so her sister could still have her chakra later. It would just take a few weeks before Hanabi could handle the strain of fighting with the Jyuuken efficiently again.

Hanabi curled into a fetal position on the floor and wailed as she bled slowly onto the mats of the dojo. The pain was horrible! It hurt everywhere! Her sister was still shoving red hot pokers into her body and twisting! She knew she was! Every beat of her heart caused a surge of chakra to course through her body and those surges caused her body to twitch and made the pain worse.

"I left you the use of your chakra, but it will take you a few weeks before you can handle channeling more than the barest amounts," Hinata said without feeling as she stared down at her sister with her Byakugan active. Hanabi's had automatically shut down when the chakra sustaining it had ceased, but the crying girl hadn't even noticed. Her world ended at the pain coursing through her body. "The pain cannot be helped, but will become manageable within a few hours."

"Take her to the medical hall!" Hiashi ordered, forcing a multitude of shocked and horrified Hyuuga Cadet members out of their stupors as they rushed to do as demanded. He turned to Hinata who stood and watched him, her face betraying no emotion and giving no hints at her thoughts. It was an absolutely horrible time to become a proper Hyuuga! "Where did you learn that and what exactly did it do to her circulatory system? Her tenketsu glowed after each strike."

"My Naruto-kun trains himself to exhaustion often enough that I picked up medical techniques. Because you, and those before you, decided Hyuuga shouldn't rely on others, we were left to only our own ways of thinking where we haven't developed any new techniques in the last forty years or so. With Naruto-kun's help, he gave me the idea for several techniques; this one was to use chakra scalpels with the Jyuuken to fight against opponents where it would be needed to have a little physical damage as well and I adapted that technique to work along our Jyuuken style, so I can actually obliterate tenketsu when I hit them to ensure my enemies can't come back to cause any damage. Ever."

"I left Hanabi's tenketsu intact, but they are scorched. It takes Naruto-kun approximately four hours to heal from that, so it should take an average person about two or three weeks," Hinata said, deciding to throw in another way she thought he was superior to these pathetic mongrels. She couldn't believe how badly fighting her sister affected her. She was angry with the lot of them for how they treated her in the past, but they had never threatened her with the seal before, and they had done that now just because she was supposedly getting better with Naruto-kun's help!

_'Hmph! Just wait until Naruto-kun takes me as his mate. I'll be out of your damned family and starting ours. Naruto-kun will be a great father. Better than you, you sadistic bastard,'_ Hinata thought. Part of her anger was in the knowledge that Hiashi had not reprimanded her in any way for what she had just done to Hanabi, especially after learning that she had nearly just destroyed her younger sister's tenketsu. The majority of it, however, was repressed anger that had not had an outlet for several years. She almost felt bad that the outlet had come to be her little sister as she remembered the smaller girl's sobs.

"Very well," Hiashi said as he flipped his hand. "You may go with the understanding you are not to be branded."

Hinata turned on her heel and left without bowing and without a nod, showing that slight bit of disrespect that would almost be calling the man a bastard to his face if it were any other family. Only the fact that she had just shown a mastery of a technique she had only ever seen before and never taught, mastery of a technique that the Hyuuga had been hoping to create for decades along with a completely new technique and because Hinata was so completely different than the pathetic weakling that she had been kept Hiashi's thoughts from turning to reprimanding her, harshly and severely.

She had become a disgrace to the Hyuuga and two months ago, he wouldn't have cared if she lived or died. But, now that she was becoming worthy of her heir status, he couldn't help but be proud of his eldest daughter. That latest technique was something he felt he could easily recreate and it was really such an incredible technique! Destroying the enemy's tenketsu? Keeping them from _ever_ being able to use chakra? Not only did it injure them, but it added insult on top of even that!

His daughter proved the Uzumaki boy assisted in her growth beautifully and he was proud of her. And now, Hanabi was bound to try even harder after being beaten so thoroughly by a girl she had never lost to. Everyone grew and everyone got better.

The clan would prosper and it gave him back his daughter. No member of the Main branch of the Hyuuga deserved to have that seal on their foreheads, and now he had a little longer to figure out how to ensure that it wouldn't happen.

xXxXxXx

"Naruto? What are you doing here? You haven't got any missions for the next two days," Sarutobi asked as the boy came into his office the day after his return with two panting ANBU rushing in right after him having tried to catch him and make the blonde pay for desecrating their headquarters.

"Hey, Jiji! I was hoping to get a few pieces of chakra detection papers to see what Ino-chan's affinity is and for myself and Hinata to see if they've changed. I haven't asked her yet, but my wind affinity is getting really shaky for some reason."

"Sorry, Hokage-sama," the boar-faced ANBU wheezed. "He egged ANBU headquarters and he's been leading us around town several times since then."

The aged Hokage quirked an eyebrow. This actually reminded him of something he was ashamed to admit he hadn't already taken care of. "Boar, I want you to gather all ANBU at headquarters at seven in full gear and complete silence of the meeting. I don't want anyone outside to know about it," he said as he pulled out a small wad of the strips Naruto asked for and handed them to the boy, having decided he could use the couple dozen extras for something in the future if he needed them. "There you are, Naruto-kun. I don't suppose you could tell me why you egged the ANBU's headquarters? Or how you got so close without being found?" Sarutobi decided the boy had learned of its location in his previous life and didn't feel it was worth asking about in front of two people who weren't aware.

Naruto smirked and then grinned brightly at the two fuming ANBU. "Hinata-chan and Ino-chan are having a girl's day out and I got bored without them, so I decided I wanted to test my stealth skills because I feel like I've been letting them degrade. I wasn't caught until the eggs started flying, so I figure I did pretty well. The chase was to gauge my evasion skills."

"Your ass is ours next time, prankster punk," Falcon threatened now that he caught his breath while marking another tally on Naruto's side of a score card between them.

Naruto grinned. These two ANBU didn't hate him for his furry friend, but they hated being shown up. This particular ANBU duo had a habit of saying those exact words to him each time they met, though it was usually after calling a truce and then them telling him how he could do something better.

He always _did_ like those two.

"Hey Boss," a Naruto clone called from the window. "The girls are done and heading to Ichiraku. If we want them to think we've been there all day, you need to get there ASAP and we were right about Kakashi." With his message completed, the clone dispersed. While it could have easily done so earlier to give him the same information, it took Naruto a few seconds to assimilate the information and, during the war, that had been a luxury he couldn't afford with the risk of battles occurring at any time until they began to disperse at prearranged dispersal times. It was a practice he decided to maintain since it helped him greatly. While there wasn't likely to be an issue any time soon where distracting him could be bad, he didn't want to get into bad habits, especially after realizing he and Hinata had been letting themselves get careless.

Naruto held out his hand, palm facing up and channeled chakra causing a poof of smoke to erupt and a scroll to fall into his hand, which he opened and sealed the chakra paper strips in before channeling chakra and causing it to disappear again. "Thanks, Ji-san. I've gotta meet the girls. Hinata-chan and I are taking Ino-chan swimming to learn water-walking and then they're forcing me to take them to dinner."

Sarutobi chuckled as he used his sharp eyes to look at Naruto's hand and saw nothing out of the ordinary. "I understand, Naruto-kun. Before you go, however, could you explain to me what you just did? As far as it looked to me, the scroll simply showed up as if summoned, but you haven't got any seals on you and you didn't perform any handseals."

Naruto grinned as he felt the two ANBU shuffle a little closer to hear. If they could imitate it, then it could be an interesting benefit. "I've got a storage seal tattooed on the heel of my hand using a clear ink along with a few various weapons sealed in my fingertips the same way in case I'm bound. In case I'm ever captured and they want to take a finger during torture, then most of my stuff is in my heel, though. I'm doing the same for Hinata-chan and plan to bring it up to Ino-chan, Anko-sensei and Kurenai-sensei. I figured this was way more subtle than a tattoo of the Konoha leaf symbol or something else that could be seen easily and wouldn't identify me as a ninja in infiltration missions. Hinata-chan said medics can detect it, but regular ninja couldn't."

Sarutobi blinked in confusion. "There aren't any inks that can be tattooed or written clearly and maintain functionality. We've attempted it before."

Naruto's grin widened. "It isn't the ink that makes the seal. It was just what I used to embed my catalyst."

"And what would that be?" The Sandaime, the man who was nicknamed 'The Professor' of the ninja world, asked.

"Crystal," Naruto said simply. "Use chakra to make tiny balls out of it so that they're microscopic in size and use the ink to put it into the skin. Then, the crystal particles act just like the coloring agent in inks that are normally needed to make the seals. Like the coloring agents in inks that make the seals function, the crystal pieces are so small that they are all pressed up against each other in my skin, so it maintains the seal just like a normal dye would."

"Microscopic?" Sarutobi asked.

"It's a term Hinata-chan taught me. I tried doing this with the crystal bits being bigger, but she explained that my body would see them as foreign and try to push them out as my skin grew and healed, so they had to be as small as possible so that they acted like liquid. When we were finished, they were as fine as powdered sugar or flour. We just mixed it in with ink and we were good to go. Cheers!" Naruto called out as he leapt out the window and down the wall. It was a habit he had picked up from Jiraiya that he usually didn't do, but he was in a hurry.

"How the hell did we never think of that?" Falcon asked rhetorically.

"I wonder what he was right about regarding Kakashi," Sarutobi added as he moved to the window and looked down, remembering his old perverted student. "And why he decided to jump out of my window."

Once Naruto was out the window, he let himself free fall for a second before shunshining across Konoha to Ichiraku and landing safely on the ground on his feet. "Best technique, _ever_," he muttered as he entered the ramen stand.

"Hello Naruto-kun!" Ayame called out happily. "You're here early today. What can I get for you?"

"Heh, Hinata-chan, Ino-chan and myself are having brunch together before heading out to the lake. I've got a secluded area that I use to train in and it's got this small waterfall and is pretty nice," he explained as he sat down. "And I'll take five teriyaki ramen and five lime and shrimp flavored."

"Coming right up," the pretty brunette said. "Sounds like you and the girls are going to be having fun today," she said with a smile.

"Especially after he sees our swimsuits," Ino chirped up as she and Hinata entered from the curtain into the stand. Ino was wearing the pale red summer dress Naruto had purchased for her the day they arrived and had her hair down instead of the usual ponytail and held out of her eyes with a red and yellow butterfly hair clip on her left side. Naruto had to admit, the girl had chosen well. "Hello Naruto."

"Good morning Naruto-kun," Hinata greeted as she stole a kiss from the boy. She was happily wearing a baby blue peasant top and a skirt made from a green wrap-around cloth that would later serve as a large lounging blanket for the girls to sit on and tan themselves while Naruto got to fend for himself. But both girls wanted to wait for Naruto's reaction when he saw their swimming outfits. Ino had been surprised to find herself having outgrown her own bathing suits and was happy to finally have the breasts for a two-piece outfit, though she didn't have anything _nearly_ as risqué as Hinata's outfit. The blue-haired girl was simply gorgeous in hers, so Ino chose to go with a one piece that actually had the front and back cut out to show her toned tummy and got to let her feel sexy without the risks involved of popping out of her top; a fear she didn't have until she saw Hinata's new outfit.

"Good morning you two," he responded with a smile. "I was just telling Ayame-nee-chan about our trip to the lake today and, may I say, you two look rather stunning."

"You may," the two girls giggled as one. "And we heard," Ino said after ordering two bowls of beef ramen. "Do you want to join us, Ayame-san?"

"I wish I could," the waitress admitted. "I haven't gone swimming in years. But I've got to work today. Sorry."

"Perhaps another day, Ayame-chan," Hinata offered. "We'll probably do this a few times each weekend we don't have any missions as much for fun as minor training. We'll try to let you know in advance."

Ayame smiled. Her family wasn't near what one could consider wealthy, and ramen was considered a poor man's food; cheap, quick and still good, so she worked with her father as much to help him out as to help have some of her own spending money since it would go to her rather than another worker he would otherwise have to hire to keep up with orders and to make deliveries, so she didn't have much of a social life. Being offered to join them was a very sweet offer. It wasn't a common thing for her.

Well, except from the occasional drunk or man who wanted sex. But they didn't count.

"Thanks you guys. Now, order's up and remember to wait at least an hour after eating before getting into the water," Ayame said as she set a few bowls down for each of them after Naruto warned the girls to eat up for their energy for the sake of the later play time and chakra exercises.

Ino's mind immediately connected the two ideas and blushed.

Half an hour later, the trio was finished eating and, after Naruto paid for the three of them, the girls followed Naruto up the Hokage monument and up and over the top to the outskirts of the ANBU's own training grounds, a section that had nothing except a large pond that had a mechanical mechanism hidden to make the water rougher and more turbulent to the point of causing a whirlpool in the center to vary the difficulty of water walking, along with trees that were grown to have living chakra networks to make tree-climbing more difficult as well and, if they wanted to risk getting caught, the ANBU also had a much more difficult obstacle course filled with various seals to negate the use of all chakra save for other seals that were offensive in nature to allow a vast network of auto-resetting traps.

"Where are we?" Ino asked as Naruto and Hinata went to their usual nook between a few large rocks that would keep them out of sight of any passersby. Adults were too large in general to slip through the boulders to see them and it allowed them to cuddle and explore each others' bodies when they were in a cuddly mood without wanting to do more than enjoyable kissing. Very enjoyable kissing if they were honest with themselves.

"This is the edge of the ANBU training grounds. Believe it or not, they actually rarely use it. This pond is really deep and has a switch a few dozen yards towards that pillar-shaped stone to activate a water flow underwater that can make the lake really violent all the way up to a large whirlpool in the middle to make this more and more difficult as you go. The trees are kind of similar. They are trees that are given lots of chakra that they feed on to make them more or less difficult to tree-climb on so you have to adjust to them each differently," Naruto told her.

Hinata unwrapped her wrap-around skirt and laid it out for them while Naruto unsealed a lunch basket. "There's nothing specifically stating we cannot be here, but Naruto-kun and I built this little nook around this bit of water here for some seclusion, just in case," she said, not willing to tell Ino that it was actually because she wanted to cuddle with Naruto-kun under the sun without worrying about tan lines.

"As long as we don't get into trouble," Ino said, setting a pouch down that was filled with tanning oils and various goodies as she and Hinata took off their outer clothing to remain clad in only their bathing suits while Naruto unsealed some drinks to go with the lunch basket and a large rubber duck.

Turning to the girls to claim his side of the deal for having to dress up when he took them out for dinner later, he froze rock solid as he took in the sight of the two girls. Hinata was wearing a small, black bikini with a black, almost fully transparent wrap-around for her waist and the chest that had the same transparent material go up to her neck in the front that all combined to simply make her pale skin glow with the light hitting it and the pink on her cheeks stand out as she saw Naruto's reaction. Ino was wearing a pale, lavender one-piece that had the stomach cut out from below her breasts to her waist, along with the back though he couldn't see it yet, and slits cut out in the sides that were a darker shade of lavender for contrast, getting nearly as close to a bikini as you could get without two separate pieces.

Blood didn't gush from his nose. His hands didn't try to reach out to touch or grope. Drool didn't appear. He simply fainted. With a very large ... grin.

"Well," Ino said as she and Hinata blinked. "That was unexpected."

Hinata giggled and pointed at the front of Naruto's straining pants. "I think he liked what he saw," she said mischievously, causing Ino to blush as her mind forced images of Naruto's member from when he and Hinata had shared a short time together while she spied just over a week ago.

xXxXxXx

Messenger Ninja Two-Two-Three-Nine kicked a large stone off of the remains of an old building that had what he learned was the Uzumaki spiral etched into its columns and sighed. The village that had once been the foundation of Whirlpool was actually destroyed and a new one had risen some ten miles away in a new location, which was where he had been a week ago, but the old one had been crushed by ninja from Iwa who had apparently been looking for the Uzumaki family's manor house.

The entire village had been torn down and all books and scrolls were removed and taken back to their own village, but apparently, the Uzumaki's stash of stolen goodies was never found, proof evident in the hundred-feet deep crater that they had blasted with their own ninjutsu in an attempt to dig and find a hidden library from the ancient family of cat burglars.

It had taken Ranna two days to get the leader of the new Whirlpool village, Matome Yaku, to so much as admit that the Uzumaki family existed, much less where the old Whirlpool village itself was. But, after Ranna had finally admitted that he was looking for family for an orphan boy in Konoha, the old man seemed to soften and, after some questions that seemed to not even be related, he answered Ranna's questions, even if not quite as fully as he would have liked.

It seemed the Uzumaki family were considered royalty in Whirlpool and very highly and widely respected by its people, even now. They were the family to found the village and offered sanctuary and membership to any family that wanted in as long as they were good people, and were kicked out if they were found to have lied. Even more, they were protectors of the village. They ruled it, unofficially, by mediating for any disputes that arose, using stolen medical jutsu to heal who they could, kept invaders at bay, policed the town justly and fairly and protected crops from those who would otherwise burn them down and always willing to help families who needed assistance, no matter if it was for grocery shopping or stealthily chaperoning dates, all for the proper mission fees, of course.

Yaku refused to say whether any Uzumaki survived, or even if he had an opinion on the matter, but promised to put the word out that he was looking and assured him that, if any Uzumaki were alive, then they would find him.

Ranna couldn't explain why hearing that assurance actually made him so nervous.

"State your name and your business looking for the Uzumaki, Messenger Ninja," a harsh voice called out, causing said messenger ninja to spin around quickly and look at two ninja, a man and a woman, who stood several feet apart and looking for the slightest twitch of hostility before killing him.

The woman, who had spoken, was dressed as a standard Jounin, but had two katana strapped to her back and a long-bladed dagger on her left thigh with three kunai on her right thigh for quick throwing and red hair tied in a braided ponytail that was quite stiff and wrapped in its own fishnet.

The male, who was dressed similarly, but in black to her dark green, had three katana on his back, but the rest was similar, only his hair was grayed and spiky, mixing with the lines on his face to show his age along with a scar on either cheek of two arrows pointing upwards.

But what put Ranna on his guard were the spiral hitai-ate strapped to their left arms. These two were the boogey men the Messenger Ninja still whispered about around camp fires; Uzumaki.

Swallowing and resisting the urge to scream like a little girl, Ranna did as he was told.

xXxXxXx

"Wakey, wakey, Naruto-kun," Hinata giggled as she nudged Naruto's shoulder and then looked across Naruto's fallen body to Ino. "To be honest, I've never seen him do this before. And he's seen a lot of naked women, many of which would make even Kurenai-sensei look plain in comparison."

"Ohhh," Naruto moaned as he opened his eyes, adjusting to the light just fast enough to see two visions of unreal beauty looking down upon him. "Two angels ... Heaven ...," he mumbled to himself as he blinked and they blushed.

"Talk like that will get you everywhere, Naruto-kun," Hinata said amusedly. "Now get up. You've been out for nearly a minute and it's time to have fun."

Naruto blushed as he realized he had fainted and got up, looking appreciatively at both girls as he did so. "It isn't my fault!" He defended himself. "I've got two gorgeous girls wearing sexy outfits and I was surprised! If anything, it's _your_ faults for being so damned pretty!"

Ino blushed and wrapped her left arm across her stomach and under her breasts, only emphasizing them subconsciously while grabbing her right arm and looking away shyly. She knew she was pretty and developing relatively well, not as well as Hinata, but well compared to other girls their age, but she didn't want to admit that she got this particular swimsuit to see what Naruto's reaction may be. Ino knew fully well that Naruto was Hinata's, but he was also the only guy their age that seemed interested in girls while still respecting them and she had wanted to know what his thoughts would be. She just thought she would have to watch to see if he snuck any peeks. She hadn't anticipated him actually saying anything right out like that. Like any girl, she appreciated being noticed and appreciated herself, but the respect was a huge part of it, and Naruto was one of those rare people who noticed and made her feel proud rather than just ... pretty.

Hinata pondered Naruto's words for only a second before grinning brightly. "You're right," she agreed. "We are gorgeous. Now, grab that little bottle there and oil us up," she demanded with a smile, laying on the towel and untying her top so he could work her more fully. "And don't forget our shoulders and necks. The straps move about and we may burn if you don't get them well." She knew Naruto would know she was just saying that, of course. They were outside for several hours a day almost every day to train. It was even a wonder her skin was as pale as it was.

"Cheeky minx," Naruto grumbled, though he was grinning warmly as he turned to a blushing Ino. "If you lay down, I'll do you, too."

Ino nodded with a blush at his unintended double entendre and laid down next to Hinata, untying the top at the base of her neck that Naruto only just now realized wasn't just one large, elastic suit. She stepped into the pants section, pulled it up to cover her breasts and then tied it in the back to keep it steady. No wonder the suit looked so good on her! It was so damned complicated it HAD to be worth it to wear it. "Don't worry about the sides," Ino warned playfully, "I can get those well enough on my own, thank you."

Naruto made a clone and poured oil onto its hands while he did the same to his own and both worked it into the girls' backs with a thorough massage, something Hinata had him practicing after strenuous workouts, which was actually just an excuse to settle the touching itch both had without having to always go to something naughty. Cuddling helped a lot, but sometimes they both simply wanted a little more, but didn't want everything to be about or based on their hormonal urges.

Almost as soon as Naruto's hands began to knead her muscles, Ino literally purred and clawed the towel into her fists in pleasure, followed immediately by Hinata. The blonde girl couldn't really help it. Naruto had learned to do this pretty well in the month he had been doing it, listening to Hinata's advice and learning as he felt and Ino had never actually had a massage before. Granted, this wasn't being done with the purpose of relaxing her body like a massage parlor or the spa section of the hot springs, but Naruto was taking care to make it enjoyable and, she had to admit, it was wonderful!

"Hinata-chan?" Ino mumbled with her eyes closed.

"Mm?"

"Can we keep him?"

Hinata giggled. "I think we will. Harder Naruto-kun, and lower. Yesss..."

Ten minutes later, Naruto pulled his hands from the girls who mewled in protest as he stretched and disbursed the shadow clone. "Alright. First thing's first," he said, pulling out a piece of chakra paper for each of them. "Channel chakra into this paper to see what your affinity is. It'll soak for water, split in half for air, turn to dust for earth, light aflame for fire and crinkle like crushed paper for lightning," he said for Ino's benefit.

Each did as prescribed and Naruto's split in half while both pieces then lit on fire, much to his and Hinata's shock while hers dampened for the water they knew she had, but then began to smoke and shocked her hand as lightning came through. Both of the time-traveling Genin had apparently developed secondary affinities strongly enough to get detected on the papers without even needing to work on them and those affinities had been why Naruto found his wind affinity acting oddly. Ino's, however, crinkled for her own lightning affinity while, unknown to anyone, the center of her paper tried to cut itself but didn't have the power to do so.

"Ah, it looks like you've got lightning," Naruto said with a smile. He actually hadn't known that about her. The girl hadn't really used many elemental techniques in the future when she went out with him and Hinata on their mission runs together. Once he got back, she went in and killed anything that moved for the most part and preferred the bloodier methods.

"I could have told you that," she said, shocking the two time-travelers.

"Oh? How? Did you already do this?" Hinata asked.

Ino bit her lower lip and shook her head, looking indecisive for a few seconds before shaking her head more rapidly as if clearing it. "No. But, my clan techniques are all mind-based and I'm able to do them also."

"How does that mean anything?" Naruto asked, curious.

"Well, you promise not to tell anyone? Ever?" Ino asked, getting nods from the other two. While it wasn't against the rules of her clan to tell anyone, it wasn't the norm, either, but she felt she could trust the other two, and it wasn't exactly a secret, just not widely known. "The brain thinks using electrical impulses. Basically, everything our bodies do, they do with bio-electricity. We think using electrical impulses, we move our limbs by sending electrical impulses through the proper nerves to control muscles to do what we need them to do, right?"

"That's right," Hinata agreed. "It's basic knowledge when you study medicine. So that's your bloodline? Lightning affinities?"

"In part. It's the key, really, along with a somewhat more advanced brain chemistry. Our minds are designed differently where we can process things more quickly and we can think multiple trains of thought all at once. Where most people think about one thing and can have another in the back of their head, we are able to think of two, three or even sometimes four things all at once clearly, though usually only two," the Yamanaka admitted. "Like holding two conversations at the same time and having no difficulty in keeping up with both and keeping them separate."

"Our bloodline and the entirety of our clan technique base is about manipulating our chakra, using that lightning aspect, to basically connect to our target and override their own electrical impulses." Ino shrugged. "It doesn't require elemental manipulation, but needs to have that affinity. Only one in about a hundred of us aren't able to use lightning as our primary element, but we have a story of a clan member who had water and built up his lightning affinity to the point he was then able to use our techniques. It basically requires being able to control it well enough for ... something, I can't remember what exactly. But, once he could use lightning as well as anything else, he was perfect with them, if a little slower than others."

Naruto and Hinata couldn't believe that there was actually that much technological theory and history behind the Yamanaka clan techniques. They knew it was a bloodline of some type, but the Yamanaka clan had never really been hailed as a bloodline carrying clan, at least not in anything more than saying they were considered one, but many with valuable clan techniques could be said to have something similar, like the Inuzuka. They actually had clan techniques that began to breed certain characteristics of themselves into the family in the past couple dozen generations, but the same could be done for any family who had been using such focused techniques for so long and so religiously.

"Well, I didn't realize how specific your bloodline was," Naruto admitted. "Thanks for sharing that with us."

"No problem," Ino said with a smile, "just don't go telling everyone."

"We won't," Hinata agreed.

"So, what do you remember about what I told you about elemental affinities when we were approaching Kensei?" Naruto asked.

Ino pondered for a few seconds as the three lounged comfortably while Hinata rested her head in Naruto's lap. "There is regular chakra, like what we have, natural chakra, like what's in the earth like that 'Gaia' thing Anko-sensei was talking about and then elemental chakra."

"Right," Naruto nodded. "What is the difference between Natural Chakra and Elemental Chakra?" He asked.

"Natural Chakra was chakra that was like the actual element in nature and is a perfect mix of all the elements to create one single chakra source. It is the purest form of one type of chakra while Elemental Chakra is chakra that is our own, but it ... um ...?" She looked questioningly at Naruto, asking for assistance.

"Acts," he supplied.

"Right! Elemental Chakra is our chakra, but it _acts_ like that element. You used the example that water chakra flows and ebbs, fire is wild to control and tries to consume, lightning kind of vibrates and is really intense and bursts, ... um..."

Continuing Ino's speech, Hinata supplied the rest, "earth chakra is strong and difficult to work with since it tries to keep its momentum, for lack of a better phrase, but once set in motion, it's much more difficult to stop or end. Wind chakra can't be controlled, but only guided. Also, one thing Naruto failed to mention with water-natured chakra is that it is difficult to control, but easy to lead so that it follows you or your commands so long as as you're gentle but firm, just like pushing it around while swimming, while all of the others will attempt to break free and work on their own."

"That's what makes elemental techniques so much more difficult to control," Naruto said with a shrug. "When you work with your own chakra, it is yours and does what you want, but if you take the elemental aspects and force the chakra to act in one way or another, it will start to do as would be natural and, if you're not careful, it could act more like a natural disaster than whatever you tried to do. If you tried to make a pillar in the ground rise up, it may do so, but if you lose control, it could either spread out and create sink holes, cracks in the ground, quicksand or try to grow more than what you intended and start an earthquake or who knows."

Naruto wrapped an arm around Hinata's shoulders as she leaned into his side with her head settled more on his thigh before he continued. "Do you remember what I told you about where elemental chakra comes from?"

Ino nodded after a moment's hesitation. "We have our own chakra and then there is natural chakra. But, elemental chakra is what we learn to pull from the world around us and use ourselves as a medium and manipulate, which is why it's so hard. It was how you mentioned about that balance being off in Kensei when the Iwa ninja removed some of the earth-based chakra from the earth and it made the other elements all out of whack."

"Right," Naruto said with a smile as he handed his fellow blonde a cookie from the basket, getting a bright and amused smile in return. "Natural chakra is everywhere and in every thing. Using elemental chakra requires us to pull our affinity out of natural chakra and through ourselves, which is why elemental chakra normally isn't taught until later in our careers. It tires us out a little faster and is a little more dangerous, but more potent. The problem with that, though, is if you go too long without learning it, then it gets harder to break habits and learn the other way so that you _can_ use elemental chakra. That's also why bloodlines like Hyoton or Mokuton are so highly valued. They combine multiple elements to form a sub-element and using more than a single element is so beyond hard that it is almost impossible since neither want to work right together when you draw them through yourself without a bloodline that makes them do it naturally. That's also why developing multiple affinities doesn't mean you can automatically add them together to make a new one."

"Since we're talking about it, are we learning how to use our elemental affinities today?" Ino asked, excited despite the knowledge that it was usually higher-ranked Chuunin or Jounin that actually began to work on them.

"Water-walking for the day and then we'll spend about an hour on the first chakra control exercise that's done in all elemental training scenarios just so you have something to practice on whenever you want," Hinata explained. "Since neither of us know much about lightning affinities, we don't want to go too far into that right now. The key aspect, and hardest bit about elemental chakra training is that you have to pull it from natural chakra and learn to control the manipulation. The first control exercise is how you learn to do that."

"But, I still get to choose our first game since I'm taking you both out for dinner," Naruto said with a large grin. "And I wanna play Cat and Mouse!"

Hinata burst into laughter and shook in Naruto's lap while Ino's face adopted a cute expression of confusion. "What the hell is Cat and Mouse?"

Giggling and sitting up, Hinata looked to Ino to explain. "It's a game Naruto-kun created when he came back from his training trip and- er," Hinata paused as she realized she almost forgot Ino wasn't aware of their unique histories. "Well, basically, it's a cross between tag, hide and seek, truth or dare and various training methods."

"How so? And why did you find that so funny?" Ino asked, wondering what she was missing.

Since he had created the game, Naruto hugged Hinata and explained, "basically, we chase each other around like we're playing tag and, whoever is 'it', has to find the others. When the person who is 'it' finds another person and tags them, then the person who gets tagged chooses truth or dare and has to answer any question truthfully, or do any dare, no matter what it is unless there were restrictions made at the beginning of the game or is something that requires that you don't answer, like S-class secrets or questions about secret missions."

"You can also save a dare to be used later with another person," Hinata pointed out. "As an example, if I was 'it' and tagged Naruto-kun, and he said dare, then I could save it and, when I later tagged you, then I could make the two of you team up for something or do something together."

"Exactly," Naruto continued. "The hide and seek part is for when we're in a forest or using trees or hiding with genjutsu and practicing stealth training instead of just running around randomly. In the water, I suppose it would be more like Marco Polo. Do you want to play it now or before we leave?"

"I'd like to play it afterwards," Ino suggested. "It may be more fun to play after I've learned the water walking exercise and can play on top of the lake, also. But what's the giant rubber ducky for?" Ino asked, pointing at the large water fowl.

Naruto's grin was somewhat disconcerting.

xXxXxXx

Tayuya remained hidden until Sasuke was cleared of the pink-haired banshee. The foul-mouthed redhead would have been willing to appreciate the tenacity of Sakura's pursuit of the Uchiha if it weren't for the fact that the younger girl was an absolute embarrassment to kunoichi everywhere. _'The little bitch doesn't even fucking _train!_ That Uchiha prick already fucking stated he wants to get stronger and doesn't care about weak little fuckers who just want his cock. Why the hell she thinks she can get into his pants when she's so damn weak, I don't know.'_

It was very, very difficult for the lone kunoichi of the Sound Four to reign in her killing intent as the little bitch tried to seduce her toy Uchiha using a flat chest, flat ass and large, flat forehead. Tayuya was completely disgusted by the pink-haired girl because she made a mockery of everything the redheaded woman had to go through to become one of the four elites that Orochimaru trusted with his own security. It was necessary to keep herself from becoming someone's property or used by the larger, stronger men in Sound for their own sick, depraved desires. And this little bitch was _hoping _for that very outcome with this prick!

She was also rather pissed off at their Jounin instructor for not teaching the little fuckers properly and get them trained up. The only reason she was willing to let the silver-haired bastard live was because she had a mission to do, given to her by Orochimaru-sama himself. Well, that, and it made her job of perverting the little prick's desires to Orochimaru-sama easier as well.

And the best way to do that was with these quiet little meetings where she could kick his ass and make him desire the power that only Orochimaru-sama could offer. The fact that she got to kick the arrogant little fucker's ass was icing on the cake.

With the disheartened fangirl gone from the training ground and surrounded by an aura of sadness and misery, which Tayuya would readily agree made her giddy as hell inside, and her toy about to leave as well, the smirking kunoichi jumped from the branch where she was hidden in and sent a kick straight to her toy's head.

Sasuke felt the sudden threat and leapt to his left, dodging the foot that sailed through the air where his head had been a second before. Taking the standard Uchiha ready stance, he quickly spied his opponent, who was apparently pouting at her miss. It was that kunoichi again! Scraggly red hair, baggy and dirty clothes, purple rope around her waist in a knot in the back.

And the best feature of all: she didn't speak. She fought.

Tayuya took a stance of her own with her right hand out in front of her and made a 'come and get me if you can' motion, urging him to do his best against her. Smirking, he rushed forward and attacked this girl who was exactly what none of the idiots that came for him were. She didn't prattle on about useless things, she didn't beg him for dates. She fought and had skill that forced him to remain focused against her. He wanted to show off his Great Fireball technique, feeling the urge to display his power to this girl for some reason, but she never used jutsu against him and he had noticed at the very beginning of her first assault against him that she didn't want him dead, so he followed her lead and used pure taijutsu.

He couldn't wait for when she decided to up the ante. He would show her what the name Uchiha meant then.

xXxXxXx

"It has come to my attention," Sarutobi Hiruzen, Sandaime Hokage began as he looked over the assembled ANBU of Konoha, "that Uzumaki Naruto, a fresh Genin, was able to infiltrate this establishment and launch an attack with eggs to hit one of our windows and was then able to outrun two senior ANBU long enough to arrive at my office looking as if he just strolled in after a walk while these two ANBU were winded. This is UNACCEPTABLE!" Sarutobi roared.

"I know he probably had them running with the use of Kage Bunshin and that he has remarkable stamina, but the cold, hard truth is that this has been happening for years!" The Sandaime watched his ANBU, the elite of Konoha, shuffle and look ashamed of themselves. Each were in full armor and stuffed to the gills with various weapons, although most of their supplies were sealed in scrolls. But that was okay. He had a surprise for each of them before they left the building.

"It isn't just that, however, that caused me to bring up this meeting. It was simply the most recent example I could use. The majority of you no longer train yourselves, using your missions as your training and to keep you in shape. This is flawed by its very nature! Therefore, I am hereby ordering any ANBU not on patrols or missions for the next three months to remain here at Headquarters for eight hours a day for extreme situation training."

Sarutobi quirked an eyebrow as he saw many backs stiffen as they realized they were being ordered to train like rookie Genin. "I understand many of you will not like this action since ANBU are trusted to train themselves and are not ordered to the same assessment rules as the other ranks, but it has become quite obvious that the majority of you have become lax in your own trainings."

One hand raised up in the crowd, obviously a woman's, and amused the Hokage enough that he couldn't help but to chuckle and motioned to it for the hand-raiser to continue. "Hokage-sama, is there something coming we should prepare for or that should cause us to focus on various points of our training?"

Sarutobi used his own skills at keeping his emotions in check to keep his body language from betraying anything and simply stated, "I realized that my focus on peace and compromise allowed us to become complacent. While we are known for our strength and quality of ninja, that quality has been weakening and I don't want us to fall too far. As you leave, you will receive a scroll with your name on it with sealed weights and training schedules. Wear the weights from this point forward and follow your training schedule outside of missions. You are also forbidden from telling any of this to anyone and anyone caught not following their training schedules will be severely reprimanded! Dismissed!"

The ANBU left, taking several different things from this mission. First, they were going to be cranky in the coming months and dead tired as many of them were quite guilty of letting their training gradually stop, or just ceased it all together once becoming an ANBU.

Second, Sarutobi's answer, while a valid point, didn't actually answer the question that had been asked of him, meaning something was probably coming and he didn't want to alert too many people and used various hints of what they were being told to do to prepare.

And lastly, he wasn't giving them a choice in the matter. That was something many of them grumbled about as they realized just how intense their new training programs were. High levels of weights, scheduled spars against unknown opponents at various points during the month and surprise assaults by various other ninja with unique code phrases were only a few of the things that had shivers running up their spines, especially when they saw the Hokage himself taking a scroll just like their own.

Sarutobi sighed as he rolled his scroll through his fingers. Knowing he was going to fight Orochimaru in just under eight months and that he was slated to die was certainly a depressing thought that made him want to try and do better in his fight than he had originally.

It wasn't that he hoped to survive the encounter. Most certainly not. To be honest, he had led a long and full life and even had a wonderful grandson out of the deal. His wife was long-since dead and would be waiting for him in the next life and he could meet Minato and Kushina, hopefully, and explain why he took the actions he had taken and let them know how wonderfully Naruto had grown.

No. What Sarutobi was hoping to do was either finish a job he started a long time ago and take that sadistic bastard down with him, or do a more thorough job and take more than his arms from him when he went out. If he got Orochimaru's arms, it would be a victory. But if he could take more than that, then he owed it to himself, the time-traveling duo, the villagers and all of the people who died at his old student's hands to do his best. And that required training and trying to get back up to speed since he knew Orochimaru had been keeping himself in excellent shape.

xXxXxXx

Shino walked up to Asuma as the man sent each of his students home for the evening and waited for acknowledgement from the chain-smoking Jounin before speaking, making sure to stay a respectable distance away from the tar-enriched cloud since his kikai bugs had a natural aversion to it.

"Is there something I can do for you, Shino?" Sarutobi Asuma asked, putting out his cigarette since he had noticed the boy rarely came close while one was lit. He had noticed Shino growing more agitated by the ambient noise level of his clan's insects and his increasingly restless nature and knew he would come to him sooner or later. He had just hoped it would be much later.

"Asuma-sensei, I have waited before coming to you in an attempt to discern some sort of plan you may have for training us, perhaps taking time to talk with us and gauge our strengths and weaknesses, but aside from occasional laps around the training area and other such exercise, you have us doing very little aside from sit and play games. I am requesting either an explanation for this gross oversight in our training, making us weaker and therefore, more likely to die on our missions, be given or that we get a more thorough training regimen so we are better prepared for the conflicts that will come in any real mission beyond a D-Rank one that has us weeding gardens or walking someone's pets."

Asuma sighed and his hand twitched towards his pack of cigarettes, desperately wanting another one, but refrained for the moment. "To be frank, I'm trying to judge how well we can do with espionage and torture and interrogation. The games, if you've not noticed, are all strategy games. I'm doing that to work on Shikamaru's ability to think up complex plans and have been giving you guys the physical training to keep you relatively in shape. It's just that, with Chouji content to sit back and Shikamaru not feeling overly motivated, I'm unsure of the direction to take the team."

Shino was silent for a moment as he reigned in his frustrations. "Then speak with us about it. We are expected to do the physical exercise and should not complain about it if we wish to be ninja. Chakra control, basic jutsu, mock battle scenarios where we all get some simulated experience at the very least. If they do not wish to follow through with their professions, they should give up now rather than when a comrade is in danger and they are too weak to support them. If there is not any improvement, or promise of improvement, in two weeks, I shall take my concerns to the Hokage and request to be assigned to a new team."

Without waiting for a response, Shino turned and walked away as Asuma paled significantly. The older man knew he was letting them sit around and do very little, but they got in about the same amount of work that Kakashi's team did. They exercised an hour or two and then did a few missions before going home for the day. As late as Kakashi was with arriving, it actually had Asuma as the better sensei of the two since he actually spent time with his team and actually did do these developmental games with them.

He even paid to take them out to eat! That had to have been worth something.

He had no idea what Kurenai and Anko's team was doing, but with two girls, it couldn't have been too much more physical exercise since they were notoriously weaker and held less stamina than the males, and none of them in the graduating class seemed to have much drive outside of the Hyuuga, who had her clan's duties to live up to, and the class's lowest-scoring member who thought he would become Hokage.

Team Nine certainly did much more, but they had been together for longer and Asuma had thought he could simply ease his kids into the proper lifestyle, giving them time to get acclimated and maybe use some kind of harsh, real-life situation to motivate Shikamaru and Chouji to take it more seriously.

But, if Shino was really serious about going to the Hokage, Asuma's own _father_, then he would have to kick their training into gear. He really hated the idea of doing it, but he didn't really have much choice. In all honesty, the Aburame was right.

Asuma sighed as he lit his cigarette and took a long drag that reduced it to nearly half of its original size. He really hated doing more activity than he really had to, but it was better than losing his status as a Jounin for dereliction of duty.

Or their families if the kids died on a mission because he didn't train them properly.

xXxXxXx

Ino sat back in her chair after eating the incredible meal in one of Konoha's top restaurants that Hinata had suggested, much to Ino's shock. She knew Naruto was an orphan and wasn't supposed to have a lot of money and this particular restaurant, while not to the standards of royalty, was one of the few that were in the village and were meant specifically to cater to the large and well-funded clans or the higher-class merchants who wanted to dine in a moderate amount of splendor.

And Naruto hadn't even batted an eye until he learned he had to dress formally.

While it had been mildly amusing to watch him grumbled and pull at his collar, Ino had to admit that she had been surprised throughout the whole meal by the way Naruto and Hinata simply _talked_ to one another, and made the effort to include her and she had found herself conversing with them happily the entire time, her previous encounter with Sakura nearly forgotten.

Now, however, she was eating some kind of custard dessert and couldn't help but be thankful. Her teammates treated her incredibly well, they included her in their training and didn't belittle her or complain about her lack of knowledge in comparison to them and they looked out for her. Even after how she treated them during the Academy.

Granted, Hinata was basically ignored, but she and many others had said horrible things about Naruto, his intelligence and his odd fashion sense. She was thankful she had never commented on his lack of parents or family, but she wasn't exactly nice.

But even Naruto had just accepted her and had been pushing her to better herself and did what they could to teach her techniques like that binding escape chakra control exercise. They had every reason to treat her coldly and have nothing more to do with her than what was required during team exercises together.

They didn't, though. They treated her better than any of her friends ever had. And that was why she was so angry with Sakura the day before. She had a wonderful friendship with Sakura and they had provided help to each other to grow and they had thrown it all away just because of Uchiha Sasuke.

And he wasn't even _worth_ it!

It had taken her a long time to realize it, and one Hyuuga who loved her fellow blonde teammate, but she realized he was _not_ the type of guy she wanted to spend her whole life with. But, because of him, and her own fangirlish attitude, she had lost her best friend.

Realizing that had hurt more than she ever thought it would. Sakura had once been her rival to Sasuke, and now all she wanted was her friend back, but she didn't know how to start. And Hinata was here, and she had been an incredible friend, as well. The blue-haired girl had become a sort of confidante with whom she could talk to about womanly things with and who actually _encouraged_ it, oddly enough.

The talks she had shared with Sakura had never been that deep, before. It was always about boys, fashion and status in the village. With Hinata, she talked about things that actually mattered and, surprise of surprises, she enjoyed those talks!

And neither of her teammates commented or spread around how Naruto felt her up for several hours' worth of time while teaching her how to mold her chakra externally, which she _knew_ was something not many would do.

Though, the chakra training they had finished mere hours before hand had her shoving all of her rubber duckies down the garbage disposal in the kitchen. Only Naruto would come up with a game that had you forcing yourself to use a variant of water-walking to propel yourself in the water to escape a duck that was hell-bent on chasing you down. The fact that he dressed it in a pirate's hat and equipped it with an eye patch was just creepy.

As Naruto split the uneaten cherries from his dessert between Hinata and herself, Ino smiled and decided she was very happy with her team and decided not to let her broken friendship with Sakura bother her any more. She would try to repair it if she could, but change was a part of life, and she was having some very good changes.

xXxXxXx

Two days later after a long day of training, Team Eight was in the Hokage's office for their final assignment of the day. The majority of their time had been spent going over what Naruto and Hinata had taught Ino and refining some of their control and working on their reserves while the two Jounin added bits of information on how to tweak various exercises to every day events so they could work on their chakra control whenever they felt capable, since it was one of those things that really required working on their own time as much as anything else. It was the Jounins' hope that their Genin could work on their chakra control with one another, along with any training they wanted to do, while jutsu and the like was done with them present to assist in the case of a jutsu going rogue if anyone lost control. The two older women wouldn't have normally suggested so much activity be done without them present, but the results had been noticeable and it gave them much more time to teach Ino, and surprisingly Naruto and Hinata, a few new jutsu or refinements on current ones.

That didn't mean the two Jounin left the chakra control alone, however.

Anko had explained, while they were working at Moriki's Barbecue again, that they could adapt known chakra control exercises in various ways to get even more out of them, such as using the leaf floating exercise to hold up plates of food away from their hands or water walking with their hands to mix fluids by pushing their chakra into the mixtures and swirling it in a controlled manner.

A useful skill to have for mixing various poisons in the field without requiring the use of a device to do the stirring once you learned the technique well enough to ensure you didn't splash it back on you. And Ino had taken to Anko's fighting style with starry eyes. Poisons were things she had learned about in no small amount at her parents' flower shop and she was quite pleased to learn more about the art.

So, under their sensei, they were learning the occasional technique, two minor ones thus far, and a lot about silent and traceless killing, almost not-so-subtly hinting that they were being a force created with the sole purpose of doing lots and lots of killing.

Therefore, it came as a shock when they got their instructions and met the 'client' for their 'bodyguard' mission.

"YES! We get to go on a bodyguard mission and pro-WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!?" Naruto screeched.

Hinata sighed and glared at Naruto reproachfully from where she had already had the little tyke's tiny hand clutched around her finger where she had been cooing at it with Ino. "It's _called_ a 'baby', Naruto-kun."

"Meet your new mission, Team Eight," Sarutobi said with an amused glint in his eye. Kurenai had asked for a baby-sitting mission in hopes of scaring Naruto and Hinata from taking their relationship too far, though he didn't realize that. It had just been pure luck that news of a team with two girls and one boy rather than the usual two boys and one girl had spread around Konoha and requests for baby-sitting missions had grown. He just hadn't wanted to waste their time with missions like that, but when Kurenai asked, he couldn't help but remember a group that had requested teams for several years. He was also hoping this would help Naruto and Hinata act more like the children they were supposed to be. At least regarding their normal activities rather than letting things slip they shouldn't.

Grinning warmly, Sarutobi chuckled. "Team Eight, this Iyama, Head Mother of Konoha's orphanage. She's requested someone to assist with the children for the next four days."

Anko pouted as she glared at the Hokage. "This is because I took the last of the meat, isn't it?"

_'You bet your snake-wielding butt it is,'_ the Sandaime thought. But he certainly couldn't say that, so he ignored the question while Naruto got close to the critter in Iyama's hands and smiled at it. "Since the forming of your team, and the public knowledge that it holds two females and two female sensei as opposed to the usual two males and most common one male sensei, the requests for babysitting missions has increased by nearly sixty percent. I have been holding off on sending you on any of those since your team has specific other functions, but I decided it was time you had a minor bodyguard simulating mission, so we have this."

"Thank you for this," Iyama said. She was a woman barely older than twenty and quite plain, but with a kind of beauty that stood out as only kind and caring individuals could achieve. A short, pixie nose, hair in a similar style to Hinata's but with two long bangs that hung to her chin and brown to Hinata's dark blue and the darkest shade of violet for her eyes that everyone had first assumed was black. And she looked absolutely haggard and ready to fall to her knees in thanks for the opportunity to have a break.

"This little guy's name is Ichigo," Iyama said with a kind smile as Naruto took him to hold. "He's nearly seven months old and constantly hungry, so we can't leave him alone for very long or he gets cranky and cries."

Naruto grinned widely as he took the baby as they looked at each other curiously before Hinata scolded him with a short 'support his head!' and, once holding him correctly, he grinned down at the little boy. "You don't look like you could be all that cranky," he said to the little boy.

Ichigo burbled a merry laugh and then spit up on Naruto.

"AH! EVIL LITTLE PUKE MACHINE! TAKE IT! TAKE IT!" Naruto was trying to hand the gurgling boy to anyone else to take, afraid it would launch another attack before Iyama giggled and took him.

xXxXxXx

"So, what happened to the old bat who always dressed in gray and carried a rolling pin in a holster at her hip?" Naruto asked. "Wasn't she Head Mother?" The woman had to have been in her sixties when Naruto had lived in the orphanage and the woman was as batty as they came. Her hair was constantly in a hair net and still mussed up, she swung her rolling pin around as she spoke, and he was sure she had launched the thing like a kunai more than just a few times, and she had absolutely hated him, having lost her granddaughter to the Kyuubi when the rest of her family had already been dead. She was also the one who had kicked Naruto out for supposedly stealing from the food stores, which he had done, but because she had refused him food that wasn't moldy for nearly a week.

"Mother Chino is no longer with us, Naruto-chan," Iyama stated. "Three years ago, she passed away from too much strain on her heart."

Naruto frowned, but not out of news of the woman's death. He had a strange sense of deja vu and couldn't quite figure out what it was. But it was only a moment longer when his eyes widened in shock. It wasn't deja vu, but the spark of an old memory! "You're Iyama-nee-chan!" He exclaimed, pointing accusingly at the violet-eyed woman who smiled widely in response.

"I was wondering if you would remember me. You didn't seem to."

"Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked, raising an eyebrow and wondering if she should show this woman who seemed to have some unknown history with her man that he was already claimed property and that Hinata hadn't given this girl any thought of approval.

Naruto, not even noticing Hinata's calculating thoughts, smiled at the brunette woman before explaining, "Iyama-nee-chan was an older orphan who lived in the orphanage when I did. But, people wanted babies they could pretend were their own children or who would grow up thinking of them as 'mom' and 'dad', so older kids didn't get taken," he explained. "But there was this older girl who looked out for a lot of us younger ones and took care of us, but she seemed to keep getting into trouble and always had to work in the kitchens."

Seeing Naruto look at her, silently asking the question with his eyes, Iyama sighed. "Mother Chino didn't like me because I always made sure _all_ the children had food and were treated fairly."

"That's not right!" Ino retorted, keeping her voice low so as not to upset the baby Anko and Kurenai were playing peek-a-boo with. "They should treat all children equally anyway!"

"There are almost always favorites, Ino-san. Some people are above such petty things, but others will have those that they treat better and allow to get away with more while others much do with less. It isn't right, but it happens." Looking over to Naruto, whom she could tell was worried he was the center of her problems, she smiled and grasped his shoulder. "Those like Naruto who were not favorites and still deserved just as much love and respect as others made me happy and proud to care for them when others wouldn't. So I will never regret that."

They arrived at the orphanage to find the grounds in a sad state of disrepair; the grass was either gone or brown, swings broken and much of the playground area more a danger to play on than not. The large building itself, holding roughly sixty orphans, had peeling pain and broken shutters on each window, the roof tiling was broken or simply gone and much of it was obviously repaired to the best of one's minor abilities.

Still, there were children running amok and playing tag or in mud that was around a pump-action water spout off to the side of the yard and, while many also seemed to have clothing, it was mostly faded, frayed and not generally the right size, but almost all seemed happy, which Naruto noted almost immediately.

"Mother Iyama-sama has been the best thing to happen to this orphanage in many years," a voice said behind Naruto, making him squawk in surprise. It also seemed to greatly amuse little Ichigo.

"This is Ayoki, my Deputy Mother," Iyama said, introducing the much older woman. She was forty-seven, graying black hair tied into a tight bun on the top of her head and wearing the same pale blue kimono that Naruto remembered. Even down to the sack of various things the woman had a tendency to pick up and carry around each day. It didn't matter what it was, but the woman had a weird focus on hoarding all of the small, shiny objects she found, even moving quickly to try and beat a kid to it if they saw it at the same time.

Naruto almost felt bad filling the ground outside with silver ball bearings a few years ago.

Once introductions were over, the group of ninja was taken to the inside, which was about the same as the outside, and introduced to the kiddies. The younger ones up to about their own ages were happy to have them, but some of the older ones, the ones who could remember Naruto and how they were encouraged to treat him, either glared or scowled at the knowledge they were now taking orders from him while a couple were knew kids who had no idea who anyone was.

Except for a six-year old girl who decided Naruto was going to be her new boyfriend.

xXxXxXx

Naruto had a clone with the rest of his team as they helped serve the meals to the various children now that it was dinner time, the point of the day they made sure everyone was present and then not allowed to leave the building the rest of the night for security and safety, something Mother Iyama began doing immediately coming in to her current station. The place was so much different than what he remembered. Oh, it had always been in bad shape, but the atmosphere was so different. Without Mother Chino, none of the other faculty seemed to care who or what he was and were, in fact, very grateful for the help he and his team was providing them. They had been losing faculty for years with various people not wanting to deal with children so long. After the Kyuubi attack, many families were orphaned and several lost their children, but were still old enough to adopt, so they did, or just wanted to provide help to the children. Now, however, there were almost none who wanted to adopt, and these children pretty much knew that.

Walking the now silent halls of his old dorm building and now the outside of the orphanage itself, he remembered how horrible he felt, feeling so alone and unloved. Unwanted. Even worse, he always had that hope that someone, somewhere, would want him. These kids, it was obvious, knew that adoption was pretty much out of the question.

And Naruto empathized with that.

Scowling, Naruto looked around and nodded before forming a couple hundred Kage Bunshin. He would have to move quickly, but he still had time before the work day was actually over.

xXxXxXx

Naruto roused himself to the feel of warm breath on his face, but he could still feel Hinata in his arms, so it wasn't her. Blinking, he saw the smiling face of Kikiyo, the six-year old little girl who forced two of his clones to sit on either side of her the night before during dinner.

The smiling face of Kikiyo who was only a couple of inches from his face.

Whose smile was beginning to get a little creepy.

"Ki-Kikiyo-chan?" Naruto asked nervously. "Sleep well?"

"Yuh-huh! Breakfast is in a few minutes and Mother Iyama don't let us out until after we eat, so you wanna go and eat with me?"

_'Why isn't she moving away?'_ Naruto thought in the safety of his own mind as he gulped, wondering why he felt so scared of a tiny little girl. "Sure," he mumbled. "Hinata-chan and I'll wake up and be there in a couple of minutes. ICK!"

He looked around in fear for some unknown reason as she fell on top of him and glomped him in a hug before rushing out of the door before a giggle caught his attention, causing him to look at Hinata who was smiling at him.

"Should I be worried, Naruto-kun?" She asked sweetly, finding the situation cute. Had the girl been any older, she may be worried, but Hinata just found the girl too adorable to get worked up over it. She had dark green hair that framed a cherub face. She'd be a looker when she got older, but Hinata didn't have it in her to get defensive.

No, this was _too_ good!

"About what?" The whiskered boy asked, honestly not following the byplay between the little girl and Hinata's thoughts.

"You'll figure it out sooner or later," Hinata grinned before kissing Naruto and getting off the bed to wake up Ino, Kurenai and a snoring Anko who seemed to sleep on her bed with her feet on the pillows.

xXxXxXx

"What in the world!?" Deputy Mother Ayoki exclaimed as she unlocked the doors to allow the children outside, a sentiment which many of the kids echoed as they rushed out and saw what she did.

The ground had been fully leveled and was now lush and green with large trees along the edges of the property with heavily reinforced playground equipment that had several swings, slides, monkey bars, a merry-go-round, a teeter totter reinforced with a metal bar to ensure longevity and other such things, all looking totally brand new, though the many ninja of Konoha will later be very surprised to find the grass outside of Konoha by a mile missing in the exact same shape as the layout of the orphanage's lawns, along with many scoops taken out where trees had been taken from the forest thanks to Naruto's sealing skills.

It wasn't like he knew any Mokuton jutsu, after all, and he had no clue where to find Yamato, the only Mokuton user in Konoha.

Ayoki panned her vision to the side and saw over two hundred clones crawling along the orphanage like brightly-colored ants and replacing shutters and roofing and removing the peeling paint to replace wooden siding before repainting the whole building. Unbeknownst to those within the orphanage, he also had a large number of clones working in the building where no one was around at to keep as far away from the sleeping kids and faculty as possible.

"What in the ...?" Iyama asked as she looked at the Naruto who walked with her outside to see what had the kids so shocked.

The blonde-haired boy shrugged. "I am being paid for a long-term S-class mission that pays more in a week than I can spend in four months with my usual bills. And I remembered how it felt when I was here. There's also a toy shack on the side that my clones built last night that's got lots of balls and water guns and various things to play outside."

He was cut off as a large group of clones came through the gate, also being repaired, with clothing and what he felt was most important that no child should ever be without: instant ramen.

xXxXxXx

"The enemy is hiding behind the play fort," a squeaky voice said, looking to Naruto. The five-year old boy hunched down next to Naruto as the blonde looked at his group of ten children.

"Alright, everyone. We take no prisoners. Don't hesitate and don't hold back," Naruto advised, hefting his weapon. All of the children grinned and shifted eagerly, looking forward to the assault.

"GET THEM MY LITTLE MINIONS!" Anko shouted in sadistic glee.

"WHAT!?" Naruto shrieked, looking up in time to get a water balloon to the face.

Naruto's warriors bellowed battle cries and rushed out to begin shooting Anko's hellions with their water guns and water balloon grenades before Hinata, Ino and Kurenai's kids joined the mix, throwing water balloons and, in one ingenious case, firing off with the water hose.

Ino laughed as Naruto got tackled by a group of kids before she, too, got pelted by balloons and sprays of water that had her drenched in seconds, much to her ire. It suddenly wasn't nearly as funny.

Then Anko began chasing Kurenai with a wet towel and it was funny all over again!

Iyama cried gently as she saw the kids, even the older ones, playing and having fun, truly having a good time and the nearly always present backdrop of sadness wasn't there any longer. The playful boy she knew four years ago had come back and brought with him his own, unique ability to brighten anything.

She looked back into the orphanage where several hundred clones of the very same boy were cleaning and repairing nearly everything in the building. Oh, she knew he wasn't replacing plumbing pipes or the toilets and the like, knowing he didn't have those kinds of skills and that it would be too costly if he screwed it up, but he was fixing so much that she couldn't believe it! All of the money they got for their basic needs were used as widely as possible, just trying to keep everything in working repair and the orphanage running, with less money coming in all the time, but Naruto had used his clones to fix so much that they could now buy more food or hire others to come in and repair the things Naruto knew not to even attempt with.

He still didn't want to get near Ichigo, however, which amused her to no end. And when he did, he wouldn't hold the baby boy facing him, but facing forward, 'just in case', he said.

It was even funnier when his blonde-haired teammate, Ino Iyama thought, would 'innocently' ask him to hold Ichigo while she rifled through a bag to get something for the baby. It was nothing to Naruto's first experience changing a diaper, though. Or learning that baby boys had their own water gun and no compunction about using it.

Iyama giggled like the girls out in the yard as everything washed over her. She was so _HAPPY_!

"Iyama-nee-chan?" A clone asked, breaking Iyama out of her reverie.

"Yes, Naruto-chan?" She asked, still grinning. She had learned hugging his clones tended to pop them since she couldn't seem to lessen the strength of her embrace.

"We've finished work on something we wanted to show you," he told her, leading her to a bathroom on the first floor that she noticed had all new tile floors, sinks and mirrors, much to her surprise.

"Wasn't this a regular room?" She asked, not believing her memory was really that bad. She had been sure she knew the building inside and out!

"It _was_, yes," the Naruto clone said with a nod. "But, this is more than that. You'll need to let all of the kids know they can't use this bathroom because the water doesn't run."

"I don't understand," Iyama said with a frown. "Why are you adding a bathroom when a plumber would have to tear it out to put more piping in?"

"Security," Naruto said. "This next to last stall opens up," he explained, showing how the toilet had a hidden seal array inside that required actually lifting the lid and activating by pushing the handle down and lifting the plunger inside up and to the side. "Once you activate the seals by completing them like that, it opens a hidden tunnel to a safety room with a heavy door. Since we're a ninja village, and I know this place didn't have one in the past, I figured it would be good to have. It's also got an escape route that my clones used some earth jutsu to make that will take you near the fallout shelters hidden in the Hokage Monument with a few extra doors through the tunnels to slow the enemy down if they find their way in."

"The seals are small enough that they can't be found if the toilet is broken unless they're actually looking for them," he advised. "But, if the toilet is broken before anyone is in, you can't open it from this side, which is why this has new toilets. They look like the others, but they're made of tougher stuff." While Naruto hadn't known what had become of the kids from the orphanage, it had been a primary target even during each invasion, including the one slated for six months away, to hit Konoha where they would hurt with their soft nature. Since each one left orphans, the orphanage kept getting fixed and used, making it a viable target that several thought not worth protecting, apparently. Now knowing that Iyama was the Head Mother and knowing the kids, he felt those losses now and decided he wanted to protect them.

So he did. And all those renovations he was helping with would cover up his new alteration.

Iyama's tearful hug made the clone poof out of existence and she lost balance to land on the floor. "Oh thank Kami this is a new floor...," she muttered, shuddering at the thought of what many of those young boys thought was 'close enough' when doing their business.

xXxXxXx

Naruto pouted as Hinata watched him with a glare, waiting for him to sit down rather than use a water balloon, thought up after their latest mission at the orphanage, to wake up the sleeping Kyuubi. She didn't really care how funny he thought it would be. You just didn't wake up a girl, or a girl demon, like that. It was bad enough the vixen was enslaved to them, but to torment her at the same time?

She trained Naruto too well for that.

"Kyuubi-chan, wake up," Hinata commanded, shaking the slumbering beast at the shoulder, getting a light growl in response and the redheaded woman stuffing a pillow over her head.

"I thought she said she had to obey us," Naruto grumbled with his arms crossed.

Ignoring him, Hinata stood up and thought for a moment before placing two fingers into her mouth and whistling loud and long, causing the Kyuubi to awaken with a jerk and look around, her tail bushy and her ears straight up, much to Naruto's amusement. It was almost worth not getting to splash the girl.

"**Huh!? Wha?"** The Kyuubi looked about nervously, wondering what the hell had just happened.

"Good morning," Hinata chirruped brightly, smiling and waving at the demoness and calming her down.

"**Grrr. Couldn't you let me sleep?"** The vixen asked, yawning and sitting in her bed cross-legged to be more comfortable.

"You've been asleep now for almost three weeks," Naruto said as he lounged back and Hinata took her seat next to him, curling into his side.

Kyuubi blinked owlishly. **"That was unexpected,"** she deadpanned.

"No kidding. We woke up after just a few hours, like you said." Naruto stated with a shrug.

"Do you know why it took you so long?" Hinata asked. "Is everything okay?"

Kyuubi frowned and felt inside of herself, seeing little different after their excursion back into the past, and then looked at her available world, the two bodies of the two in front of her. As promised, the changes were happening to them gently and in a controlled fashion, their power levels were increasing, even if not as fast as she had thought they would, and there was no pain or loss of self in the transference to two hosts instead of just the one.

"**Everything is okay as far as I can tell. I am split between the two of you now, rather than residing in just one, so it took me time to ... pull myself together, I suppose. That's the only thing I can really think that may have had any reason for taking so much longer."**

"We were hoping you could answer a few questions for us if you're up to it," Hinata offered, getting a nod from the sitting woman to continue. "Do you know why we didn't have the changes you said we would? The ears, claws, tails and the like? I was rather looking forward to the tails...," she trailed off, thinking of Naruto wrapping her up in his.

"**You have them already,"** Kyuubi said with a shrug. **"You just have to figure out how to change into your half-demon form. I can't really describe how to do it because it's natural for me to shift between forms. I've never really had to learn how to do it. But, once you get them, then you have them. And you do."**

"But we changed into them right after the transfer," Naruto countered.

"**That was because you are now naturally hanyou. You changed into what you _are_. You changed back to human because that is what you _know_. What you are comfortable with and the only form you know. Half demons would normally have to learn to change into human, but that is because they are naturally half demon."**

"What about full demon?" Hinata asked. "You said we could change into that, too. But, if we're human, getting part demon fox, how do we go full demon?"

"**You can only because you have me within you. And, it's basically the same as going half demon, but will be harder since you are not naturally fully demon, I think,"** the Kyuubi explained.

Hinata nodded, understanding the explanation while Naruto decided to voice his own question. "When I summon you, you said you'd be big the first time. Are you able to change immediately to small so no one notices? Or can you hide your power so they don't feel it in Konoha? And, will I be able to summon toads still? And can I summon them now, since I've signed the contract? Or do I have to sign the contract in this timeline first?"

"Slow down, Naruto-kun," Hinata chided. "Give her time to answer." Naruto grinned apologetically.

"**My initial burst will be felt within ten miles, give or take a little. I can control it that much. But my size will be very slow to change, so you probably want me a bit further away than that,"** she said sheepishly. **"You can still summon toads, but you'll have to sign the contract again. They aren't in the same realm as this, but they will have reverted back as well."**

"I'm curious," Naruto began, suddenly realizing something. "How can you have been sealed inside of me, but your body be in another realm?"

"**When I say body, I don't mean a body like the two of you have,"** the Kyuubi answered, wondering why her two obviously evil masters were asking so many questions right after waking her up. That was the kind of cruel evil that not even demons would approach.

"**Demons are creations of chakra from the earth itself-"**

"Gaia?" Hinata asked, surprised despite herself that Anko-sensei had explained something relevant that was being learned this soon to be potentially accurate.

"**It has once been known as that, yes. But, the chakra of the earth is the living part of it and demons are part of that chakra when it either goes bad, meaning chakra that is different or poisonous to the earth's – Gaia's – chakra, or when there is some kind of improper balance and the earth naturally expunges it. Usually, it will do these things on its own, but occasionally, there will be a portion of chakra that is not removed by ... Gaia ... and it develops a form of sentience, much like you humans and thus, we are born. We can develop and draw ourselves out of the body of Gaia's chakra and, the only way we can survive leaving fully and not being destroyed by Gaia's natural chakra system, we can only find our ways into other realms, like the summoning realm."**

"So, there are demons that are summons, but they aren't all from Gaia?" Hinata asked, getting a negative shake of the vixen's head.

"**No. It is this world, but a different level of it. Like the sub-space of sealing scrolls, but the living world. When we survive leaving the core of the planet, where the majority of the earth's chakra is at, we manifest in some way in that other realm, be it as a pond for water-based demons, desert for sand-based ones, volcano for fire or whatever it happens to be. The more powerful we are and the more elements we incorporate into ourselves, the more complex our version of the 'body' we have is. In my case, I have an actual body there now, but they aren't me, just a part of me. I am actually the ecosystem of that area and am part of each of the creatures that live there, which also spread to other areas, allowing me to grow stronger and larger by letting those parts of me expand so that I am, in a way, like the earth itself, but on a much, much smaller scale."**

"Oh," both Naruto and Hinata said slowly, surprised at how complicated their world, and the survival of demons, was.

"**Did you have any other questions?"** The Kyuubi asked with droopy eyes. Neither Naruto or Hinata could recall anything specific now that they had asked their big questions, and the last answer kind of blew their minds, so they both shook their heads in the negative. **"Then I'm going back to bed. 'Night."**

And the Kyuubi fell backwards and pulled a pillow over her head, wondering what kind of sadistic monsters she was now enslaved to as she fell asleep.

xXxXxXx

**[A/N:]** - Next chapter, entitled "There's Treachery Afoot!"

Naruto: "Hinata-chan! HINATA-CHAN!" Naruto fell to his knees and checked the Hyuuga's vitals before yanking out the kunai in her chest and trying to heal her in vain.

Anko: "Naruto ... stop. There's nothing you can do. She's gone."

Naruto: Slowly, Naruto laid his pale-eyed goddess to the ground and turned to the dozens of eyes around them looking on in fear and horror. "Who did this? Who is going to DIE!?!"

Also, Ino learns of their demonic secret and Tayuya shows Sasuke what it means to be 'blessed' by her master. And the changes to the time line have another drastic change in the events to follow.


	9. There's Treachery Afoot!

**Title:** Reforging The Past

**Chapter9 – **There's Treachery Afoot!

**Ship:** Naruto/Hina, Naru/Harem, Naru/Hina/Ino/FemHaku/FemKyuu, Anko/Kurenai

**Warnings**: Oral sex, Light Voyeurism

**Author:** Paladeus

**Key:** "Speech", **"Demonic Speech"**, _'Thought'_, _**'Demonic Thought'**_

xXxXxXx

**[A/N:]** This chapter had to be broken in half because I was cresting forty-five thousand words. That is nearly half of the story posted already. Starting next chapter, the pace of the story is going to pick up drastically. I was reading through and noticed it is far too slow. Next chapter is more than half done. I will add the second half of this chapter at the beginning of the next (including the promised Hinata/Ino citrus.) **REMEMBER** **this story is meant to have a touch of Icha Icha to it, hence the heavy focus on naughty stuff.**

**Word of caution.** This chapter, and several coming, will have short blips or information on seals and how they function. This is because Naruto, in Canon, learned NOTHING on his training trip with Jiraiya except how to use a power that wasn't his: The Kyuubi. He learned no real jutsu aside from adaptations on what he already knew, really. He had somewhat better taijutsu, a couple of jutsu based on the Rasengan and a more fit body. To that end, I propose, what did Jiraiya teach Naruto? Seals, Information gathering and how to create/maintain a spy network, chakra control (because he could leave Naruto alone to do that while he did other stuff) and maybe a few training things (this will be brought up and clarified in a later chapter since I have an arc created to do something similar.) Really, Jiraiya was as bad as Sasuke and Orochimaru. Rather than train Naruto to use his own talents and skills, he forced Naruto to rely upon the Kyuubi. Sad, really.

**Recommended Story of the Chapter:** "The Storybook Summoner" by Blood Brandy (Naruto/Hinata, could have more girls later. Not sure as of yet. The second crossover I've truly enjoyed. SO worth the read if you like unique and fun!)

**xXx** – Previously – **xXx**

"_So, there are demons that are summons, but they aren't all from Gaia?" Hinata asked, getting a negative shake of the vixen's head._

"_**No. It is this world, but a different level of it. Like the sub-space of sealing scrolls, but the living world. When we survive leaving the core of the planet, where the majority of the earth's chakra is at, we manifest in some way in that other realm, be it as a pond for water-based demons, desert for sand-based ones, volcano for fire or whatever it happens to be. The more powerful we are and the more elements we incorporate into ourselves, the more complex our version of the 'body' we have is. In my case, I have an actual body there now, but they aren't me, just a part of me. I am actually the ecosystem of that area and am part of each of the creatures that live there, which also spread to other areas, allowing me to grow stronger and larger by letting those parts of me expand so that I am, in a way, like the earth itself, but on a much, much smaller scale."**_

"_Oh," both Naruto and Hinata said slowly, surprised at how complicated their world, and the survival of demons, was._

**xXx** – STORY – **xXx**

"Hey, Dad," Asuma greeted the Hokage as the old man entered their shared home at the Hokage Mansion for lunch. "Can we talk?"

"Of course. What's the problem, Asuma?" Sarutobi asked as he sat across from his son on the couch. Breakfast, it would seem, would have to wait.

"I'd like to ask for something a little more challenging for my Genin," Asuma said with a sigh. "I don't want a C-rank mission unless it's something we can do in-house with a low risk factor or could be something similar. I'd ... like to push them to motivate them into taking training seriously."

"Hm," Sarutobi pondered the request. He knew Naruto and Hinata had said he was lackluster as a Jounin sensei, which led him to believe the change in teams somehow forced this upon his chain-smoking son, probably with the inclusion of Shino since he was the only one not part of the original team selected that Asuma had. Still, it was a worthy request that could only help them develop. "What have you determined as your team's primary function?"

Asuma used his years of experience to keep from flinching or looking guilty. In truth, he had been enjoying the strategy games with Shikamaru and hadn't really tested them for their proclivities. He had come back to Konoha from defending the Fire Lord himself only a few months ago and was still hoping for some rest and relaxation when he was given his team. But one just can't simply say 'no' to their leader, either. "Thus far, I'd say a generalized unit. They've a little of everything, but nothing really in the way of anything that they all share for any form of cohesive specialty. Shikamaru has little taijutsu beyond Academy standards and an almost scary intellect, Chouji is much more of a powerhouse, but quite a bit slower and is much more of a follower while Shino ... looks to have above Academy standard taijutsu and is more a reconnaissance and stealth specialist, though I can't say he's specialized in anything as of yet. None of them have more than the basic family techniques and the Academy starters."

Sarutobi nodded, knowing it to be the case. As a form of ensuring what Naruto and Hinata had told him, he had been watching the various teams during their practices and had been rather disappointed. Team Eight seemed to be the only one that was doing its job properly. "During Team Eight's last mission, they discussed some things that they then shared with me at their debriefing regarding the Academy. While different from the original discussion with them, I may have an idea for you. It will take me a week to get preparations in order. You will begin training your team in stealth and ambush tactics, along with proper methods of subduing and properly restraining captives while escaping the scene without evidence. I will expect a competent display in one week's time."

Asuma's cigarette hung limply in his mouth as his right eyebrow twitched. "Wh-what the hell do you plan on them doing!?"

"I will brief you about it in one week," Sarutobi stated with a hint of steel in his voice, acknowledging that the conversation was done as he rose and left his home, intent upon his office.

_'I cannot believe how weak I've allowed Konoha to become these past years. I had hoped to shepherd a new generation of ninja into a time of peace and maintaining good values, but I did not intend to allow us to grow so soft as to be destroyed almost over night.'_

Sarutobi sighed and looked at the smiling faces of the children he passed and the honor and gratitude the adults expressed in their eyes while, well hidden behind his own eyes, a flame of contempt burned.

_'Did I really let it get so bad because of Naruto?'_ He asked himself. In the beginning when the Kyuubi had been sealed, there had been almost two dozen attempts on baby Naruto's life by various ninja in the first week alone and only taking the mantle of Hokage back up and keeping the child in his own office had seen a near stop to that. And the civilian population had nearly revolted when they had learned there was nothing left between them and a dead demon fox but for a newborn baby's life. It had infuriated him then, telling him he would have to take drastic measures to ensure Naruto's safety to show the people that he was their Hokage and ruler.

And take them he did.

The reinstated Sandaime removed all but the least amount of ninja needed for patrols and village duties to give them all so many missions that some had actually entered his office and begged forgiveness. Most believed him when he said it was to show Konoha was still strong and to bring in the money needed to repair the village, both its facilities and its image in the aftermath of the Kyuubi attack. Some, however, knew it was retaliation for their actions towards the baby usually watching them from its crib behind his desk when they entered.

It was even true, too. Just not the driving force behind his issuing several hundred more missions a week than they had ever taken before.

As a reminder of who was in charge and where they belonged in Konoha's infrastructure, only those who had remained loyal and held faith in the Yondaime's seal work were allowed to maintain the comfortable positions as patrols and guards to Konoha while the majority of those who called for the boy's death were _still_ doing various high-rank missions so as to rarely even see their home village, though he had softened enough to give them about a month off from them as vacation each year.

That was actually one of the reasons the Uchiha had been selected to police the town with almost sole acclaim to that right. While they were almost all capable of the Sharingan, not all became ninja, even though they copied the techniques. No, for some reason, very few actually became ninja, though Sarutobi was almost positive it had something to do with the standing mandate of two or more children per family, bolstering their numbers. Uchiha Itachi would not have been able to kill all of his family save Sasuke had any been on missions, after all, and their numbers were so great they had an entire sector, which not even the Hyuuga could boast to. Still, they copied techniques to become some of the better blacksmiths, chefs and other various trade skills of Konoha. And copying taijutsu and doing enough physical exercise had made them perfect to enforce the laws of Konoha on the standard population.

Sarutobi sighed as he entered the Hokage Tower, getting his mind back to its main focus. He had lost his faith in the village all those years ago and had taken it out on his ninja and the people to spite them. They had wanted to kill an innocent child to kill the Kyuubi, even though it would have released the demon fox upon them again before the seal stabilized after the first year when baby Naruto would have a full chakra circulatory system. Even the ninja who swore to the Yondaime's name and memory to back their own word failed to trust in him beyond his death.

And he had never forgiven the people for that, letting them weaken and their skills stagnate while keeping the riffraff out of the village where they couldn't cause trouble for the newborn.

The wrinkled Hokage shook his head to get back to present as he entered his office. _'This is far more my fault than I would care to admit. Especially since I have not taken measures to ensure my ninja better themselves without being prompted by a thirteen-year old sneaking in and attacking the ANBU's headquarters. I should have been doing that as soon as I knew what was coming.'_

He sat in his chair, his body protesting from his strenuous morning workout, while he sent a message to his secretary to call Team Eight's two Jounin sensei into his office. His son had given him an opportunity to lay to rest some of his last doubts regarding his two most unique Genin.

xXxXxXx

"Naruto-kun, I've been thinking," Hinata said as she laid on the couch in Naruto's apartment with her head on his lap after her shower. The day's exercises were done with and they still had an hour before lunch. Ino had begged off spending the meal with them, citing other business to attend to, so Naruto and Hinata were lounging in his apartment in barely enough clothing to be considered decent and were happily content to snuggle. An action that was becoming far more necessary as the weeks progressed, though neither was overly aware of it.

"Oh? And what is that, my beautiful angel?" Naruto asked, his eyes being drawn to the barely concealed cleavage hidden by Hinata's bath robe. They were both wearing them, but were also both quite naked beneath them.

And he liked to take in her beauty...

"Mhm. We've been helping Ino-chan train and become stronger than she did in the past, but we haven't had hardly any contact with the others. We haven't seen anything of Team Ten since they were formed aside from in passing when our teams met each other in the Hokage's Tower and have no clue where they're at in skills or knowledge. We've had almost the same amount of contact with Team Seven aside from that situation with Ino-chan and Sakura before we took her to the lake and you've only been sparring with Lee and Gai-sensei in the mornings."

The buxom girl stretched, thrusting her chest forward in an action to slide herself up and into Naruto's lap so he could hold her. And she loved tempting him, of course. It was an interesting rush knowing she had him so enthralled without really having to try. "I'm worried that we aren't taking enough action to help them get better. I was wondering if you thought we could talk Anko and Kurenai-sensei into finding some way to get some inter-team cooperation to hide what we're really doing."

Naruto hummed in the back of his throat in thought as his mate nuzzled his neck and nibbled at various points of his shoulder, neck and chin absently while waiting for his response. "I'll admit that we've made a lot of progress with Ino-chan, but a large part of that is her willingness to trust us and work with us voluntarily. I mean, we both know there isn't likely to be another female who'd willingly let us touch and grope her just to get her to learn a new chakra control exercise. I know Sakura would try to kill us, Tenten would probably try to skewer us with something blunt that should never be used as a weapon in the first place. I have to admit though, Ino's been taking to her training much more easily than I thought she would. I swear, it's almost like old times with the three of us," Naruto said with a fond smile.

Hinata blushed mildly as she considered Ino's motives, and her own attempts to get the blonde girl to join them in their naughty escapades, but tossed it aside for now. She knew Ino appealed to Naruto and that Ino was finding the who situation worth continuing, so she held no reservations in her attempts, so long as she didn't attempt to manipulate anyone. If they didn't want to do anything, they wouldn't. All she had to do was get them to commit to it. "Sakura, I believe, wouldn't do anything that wasn't on Arch Bastard Uchiha's orders, Naruto-kun. But do you see what I mean? We've been training ourselves up, and Ino-chan, but we haven't really done anything to prepare for the invasion or get anyone into a state where they can withstand what's to come any better aside from Ino-chan."

"I do, yes," Naruto said with a frown as he began to stroke Hinata's hair, squeezing her warm body into his own as he felt her wet tongue caress his neck. "But, there isn't a whole lot we _can_ do. All of our plans and ideas would draw too much attention and, if we do anything too big, we may alert Kabuto or one of Orochimaru's spies and change the invasion plans, which could be worse than letting it happen as it did. The best thing we can do is ... nothing, really," Naruto finished with a stubborn frown. There were so many thoughts and strategies running amok in their minds regarding the invasion, as their thought processes were still trained from years of war, but they both knew that everything they tried would alert Orochimaru and his spies that something was known and preparations were being put in place, which could make them come in greater numbers or more dangerous tactics. That was the only reason Kabuto was still alive. At least for now. They never had figured out everyone who was a spy in their ranks. And that caused a lot of harm.

"What if what we did wasn't wide scale and had different explanations?" Hinata asked, not taking her head from Naruto's shoulder. "At least with our peer group, since they're the only ones without actual experience."

"Did you have another idea?" He asked, slipping a hand under her robe to grab her leg and pull her more comfortably into his lap but decided to leave his hand there. Much like Hinata, whatever contact he had, neither were willing to lose.

"Possibly. The Chuunin Exams start in five and a half months now and that gave me the idea. What if we created some kind of technique scroll or got some kind of prize and had a tournament between the Genin? Maybe even something that the teams could fight over and, whoever's in the lead at a given point, get. Not like the Chuunin exams, but just something like capture the flag where one team had the scroll at any given time. It'd have to be something they would actually _want_ to fight for, but you get the point."

"Mhm," Naruto mumbled, only half listening as his hand slowly began to move on Hinata's creamy thigh, moving dangerously close to naughty bum territory as the girl began to nip at his neck with more vigor, actually leaving marks the other women of the village would see. "What do you think they'd want?" He asked lowly, tilting her head forward as he claimed her own neck and began to work his way down to the top of her chest and back up slowly, nipping and licking lightly.

Hinata gasped as Naruto's hand shot up to cup her firm cheeks and twitched in anticipation as he worked his way lower before moaning in disappointment as he raised his lips to her neck again. "S-something desired, Naruto-kun," she said before growling and straddling his legs and sitting in his lap to grab him by the hair and force his head back hard to claim his lips for a long minute before coming up for air.

Naruto flipped Hinata onto her back and pinned her arms above her head with one hand while the other threw open her robe as he growled out, "something they'll be desperate to claim," before his lips came down to suck on her hardened left nipple and make her cry out in pleasure.

"S-something they'll _need_," Hinata moaned out before she tore open Naruto's own robe and pulled him down hard onto her, crushing his body against hers and mashing their lips together in a heated kiss where their tongues began to duel each other furiously even as she rubbed her soaking slit over his erection, coating him in her juices.

Hinata whimpered into Naruto's mouth as he lightly bit onto her nipple and his hand cupped her breast and massaged it precisely as she had trained him to do. Wantonly, she thrust her hips upwards in an unconscious attempt to make Naruto advance and stop taking his damned time as a month and a half of physical desire and need began to be released.

Hinata could feel Naruto's arousal slide between her lower lips, rubbing her swollen clit deliciously and causing her head to tilt back. "Naruto-kun," she whispered, thrusting her hips again and relishing in the electric jolt of pleasure that shot through her.

Naruto growled and grabbed Hinata's wrists, holding them above her head and biting Hinata on her collarbone as he angled himself to take his mate, pressing the crown of his engorged manhood lightly into her, readying himself to plunge forward.

Then there was a heavy pounding on the door, causing them to squawk and break apart leaving Naruto to fall heavily to the floor.

"Naruto! Hinata! Open up!" The voice of Mitarashi Anko yelled from the other side of the door. She would have just simply burst into the home, but the first time she had done that, she had almost been hit by five traps she had seen go off, and only a quick substitution technique, which she had meant to do with a lamp but had been forced outside instead, had kept her from being skewered.

Hadn't kept her from falling five feet from the air into a dumpster, though.

"It's a bad idea to kill your Jounin sensei, it's a bad idea to kill your Jounin sensei," Naruto chanted quietly as he tried to calm himself from his hormonal high. Hinata looked down and swallowed thickly as she saw his erection sticking through the folds of his robe, glistening from being covered in her own fluids. It was easily the most erotic thing she had seen in her life! She took a deep, calming breath as her heart rate spiked at the sight before she shook her head. She wanted him, _needed_ him, but if she touched him again now, even the Hokage would fear her wrath for interrupting her. She could neuter the man without leaving a mark.

"You may want to put that away, Naruto-kun. I'll see what in the hell they want." She closed her robe as she rose and then opened the door, not hearing Naruto still chanting since all he really wanted to do was take her and finally make her his and was interrupted before he had gone even remotely as far as he and Hinata had been about to go.

Anko pressed her fist forward to knock on the door once again when it was thrown open and a vicious-looking Hinata glared at her and Kurenai with no small amount of rage showing in her eyes that spoke of murder and mayhem to the two Jounin. The older women's eyes took in the thick cotton robe, the protruding, hardened nipples, puffy red lips, large bite mark and the bare thigh that was made visible from the girl crossing her arms under her breasts and making the robe rise to just barely cover the juncture between her legs.

And seeing the inside of her thighs glistening, followed by a still _very_ excited Naruto by the couch, they knew they had just interrupted a very naughty moment. Something that caused Kurenai's hackles to rise.

"How can we help you?" Hinata asked in an icy tone, making Anko grin lecherously, though she didn't remove her eyes from Naruto. For only being thirteen years old, the boy was well-endowed. Something the purple-haired woman was sure had to be the Kyuubi's doing, though she had no idea as to why. She also had no idea that it was just wonderful genetics. Uzumaki Kushina, were she alive, could have assured them of that.

"Having a bit of play time, Hinata-chan?" The Snake-Jounin asked in amusement as she waggled her eyebrows.

"Were," Hinata grunted, letting her superiors enter as she turned to find Naruto still chanting. "Naruto-kun, Anko-sensei and Kurenai-sensei are here."

Naruto shook his head and glared at the two Jounin who were looking at him unashamedly. "You two suck," he bemoaned, lamenting the loss of Hinata's touch.

"Is that an order Naruto?" Anko chirruped, gesturing down to his erection. A sudden spike of killing intent made the woman look to Hinata who knelt next to the blonde and grasped his stiff member in her hand, making him yelp as her hand slid easily up his shaft due to the natural lubrication.

"Mine," she stated simply, causing Anko to burst into laughter and Kurenai to blush.

Glaring at the two youths in front of her, Kurenai let her red eyes glow with a sealless genjutsu to look more intimidating. "Didn't I tell you both pants were to remain on?"

"We figured that, once you knew we were older than we looked, it was more of a suggestion," Hinata said, looking as innocent as possible.

Kurenai sighed. "Can you take your hand off of his penis, Hinata? It's a bit distracting."

"It wasn't bothering me," Naruto broke in.

"Enough," Kurenai sighed. "We've got a mission. We're here to discuss it with you."

Naruto and Hinata sat on the couch, Hinata sitting beside him rather than on his lap when Kurenai cleared her throat. "What's our mission?" Naruto asked.

"Shouldn't you put that away?" Anko asked, pointing at his still-stiff member. "Most boys would be embarrassed as all hell about being seen by random women, especially two adult ones."

"It doesn't go away without release for several minutes as long as it doesn't get any attention and it won't fit into my pants like this, so there's really no point in getting dressed. Also, I know I'm above average even for an adult male, and I've still got a bit of growing to do, and I've been seen a lot in the past, so it doesn't really bother me. Now what's our mission?"

"Do you think you could at least _try_ to cover up?" Kurenai asked, seeing him reach over to pick up the grinning Hinata. "Forget it, forget it. We'll deal." She nearly sighed in relief when he set the girl back down with a frown. She wasn't even thirty yet and she felt like she was too old for this crap. At least she wasn't shamelessly staring at him like Anko was.

"Now then," Anko said, looking between Naruto's phallus and Hinata, wondering where in the hell the girl planned to put it, "let's discuss our newest mission and objectives. And don't worry," Anko continued, unable to refrain herself. "We'll make it a 'quickie'."

xXxXxXx

"I'm surprised you would want anything to do with me," Sakura said quietly as she sat heavily onto one end of her bed while Ino sat smoothly and delicately on the other while both pulled out their dango and yakitori skewers. Ino had offered to buy the lunch if Sakura would be willing to talk to her. It was amazing what kind of pay you could get when you weren't just running basic errands. "You seemed pissed off at me the other day. And now you wanna talk, but plan on fattening me up with mass amounts of dango? I can't tell if this is a friendly or enemy action," Sakura quipped with a smirk.

"Anko-sensei got me addicted to the things," Ino admitted shamelessly. "I've been eating them like mad but my team exercises are making me lose fat still, so I don't mind. And Hinata-chan's been getting me hooked on basically anything else on a stick. She also said we need fats in our diet so our bodies stay in good shape, especially our monthly cycles or we won't develop properly." Ino flicked her wrist, causing the three balls of sweet goodness to fly into the air and into her mouth. Those contests Hinata had challenged her to were paying off. She could eat more in a single bite without choking, now.

"And setting up this meeting?" Sakura asked, eating her dango in greater moderation. Her exercise program was basically the same as it was during the Academy since Kakashi had them jog around the clearing a few times to get about the same amount of exercise. And as it was, she was sure she was too fat anyway. Though, the near non-existence of fat on her body and lack of proper diet could also explain why she still had yet to begin to develop like many of her peers.

"I want to give our friendship one last try," Ino said bluntly as she grabbed for some orange chicken. "Sasuke broke us apart because we both became his fangirls and wanted to date him and eventually have little Uchiha babies. I don't care about that anymore and I really want to have my friend back."

Sakura scrunched up her face and looked at Ino with undisguised curiosity. "How could you say that? You were just as much after him as I was a month ago! How could you change your mind about him so quickly?"

Ino sighed and leaned back, looking at Sakura intently. "About a month before we graduated, I met up with Hinata and Naruto and they took me shopping."

"I remember. You said Naruto had better muscles than Sasuke-kun and he bought you a red summer dress in thanks," Sakura interrupted. She also learned Naruto was apparently quite well endowed, but didn't feel like bringing _that_ up!

"Right. But since then, they've been teaching me a lot of stuff. One of those things is something my dad had told me a long time ago that I didn't really listen to, but think I should have."

"What do you mean? And what could they possibly teach you?" Sakura asked remembering the blonde boy to be an idiot and the Hyuuga girl to be painfully shy. Though she did note Ino's massive blush with her last question.

"We'll discuss what they taught me later. But I want to stick to our friendship right now. And my dad told me that everyone has a bunch of different faces. When in public, a person will act better and nicer depending on what the people around them are like, or they'll be who they want to be and are when alone or even try to be really romantic and suave when trying to garner someone's attention or dangerous in front of enemies."

"Like when Iruka-sensei told us about spies and double agents acting like friends just to get information, you mean? Just acting different?"

"Exactly," Ino said with a nod. "And also just wanting to make people like you and think you're a better person by being nice around them even though you aren't normally that nice or acting tough and mean in front of an enemy. My dad told me that there are expert actors out there along with the bad ones, but that no matter how good someone was, there were always little things to look out for to see how a person is lying; words that they say in place of other words, the _way_ they say something, expressions, body language, clothes they wear and even the things a person eats. Have you ever noticed that the more skilled a ninja seems to be, the more they stick out with weird hairstyles or clothing? While it's usually because they get their clothes custom-made for their fighting style or weapons of choice, it helps them stand out when they want to be noticed, but fade into obscurity when they dress drab."

"I understand all that," Sakura said slowly. "It's basically the stuff they say can give away a spy or someone impersonating someone else. What does this have to do with Sasuke-kun?"

"When my dad told me all of this, I heard him, but I didn't really listen," Ino explained. "I filed it all away in my head for when I thought I would need it later, but never actually tried to apply it except for some fun when I was bored, trying to profile some of our classmates and teachers, or when he would take me out one day and have me practice on people before he would critique my thoughts compared to his own." Internally, Ino realized she should ask him for assistance in doing that again. He had stopped when he realized she wasn't taking the practice seriously.

"I remember, he used to do that at least once a week when he wasn't on missions. And Sasuke-kun? How does this fit in with him?" Sakura interrupted again, dismissing the obvious.

"I'm getting to that," Ino said with a slight glare, making the pink-haired one shuffle on her bed and take a large bite of her dango as a compulsive coping mechanism. "I never did it with Sasuke, or at least not for real. I did it, but I didn't do it right. I chalked him up with reasons and answers supplied how I wanted to hear them."

"I don't understand," Sakura admitted gently, worried about Ino's anger spiking again. The girl decked her almost a week ago with far more power than she had in the Academy and Sakura didn't want to get hit again.

"Basically, I excused a lot of his actions based on being orphaned and finding his family dead, but felt that the right girl, thinking it was me in my head of course, could bring out the good and caring side of him if we had the chance."

"Exactly!" Sakura chirruped with a smile and bounce in her seat.

"Exactly _wrong_, yes," Ino grunted. "That's the part I got wrong, Sakura. I looked back on everything from our past, all of our talks with him, if you could call them that, any time we've offered to train with him and his general personality and I realized that, if he _does_ have a good side of him, it's buried so far down that I don't think anyone, even Sasuke himself, could find it. My dad does a lot of the psychological profiles for graduating Genin and I can still remember him telling my mom about how disgusted he was by the Uchiha in general and how Sasuke was living up to his family legacy."

"You're wrong," Sakura countered firmly, memories of her discussion with the Hokage coming to the forefront of her mind. "I'm his teammate and I think I would know him better than you would. I know he has a tough exterior, everyone knows that, but he's been through hell and is having a hard time trusting anyone. I've been getting closer to him and know he is a good person at heart."

As Ino had said, she had begun paying more attention to people and reading them as she had been taught to the point where she tried to do it constantly. She did so during this talk with Sakura and saw something that truly made her mourn her friend. Blind devotion. Sakura wouldn't see something beyond what she wanted to see unless it countered the version of Sasuke she had in her head so thoroughly as to completely shatter her illusions of him.

Ino strongly debated planting seeds in Sakura's mind, making a comment here or there to get them to fester and keep Sakura thinking about them often enough to begin to make her break the illusion of Sasuke herself, but the blue-eyed blonde knew that could cause more damage than it would help if Sakura reacted to it differently than desired, thus reinforcing the illusion, the lie.

"I disagree, but I'll let you come to your own decision," Ino said after a lengthy silence. "I can't force you to change your mind, but I _can_ ask that you keep your eyes open. I'll always be here to help you talk things through if you need me to."

"So you're really not going to try and win his heart anymore?" Sakura asked, watching Ino carefully. There was, after all, always the chance that this was some elaborate trick to get her to weaken her guard now that she had the chance to nab Sasuke so Ino could get the chance to win his affections.

"I'm really not," Ino confirmed. "Friends again?"

Sakura smiled warmly, believing the blonde-haired girl. It seemed like a very long time ago that the girls had learned to read each other, but learn they had. Ino was sincere. "Friends." The pink-haired girl leaned against her headboard with an almost evil smirk as she asked about something she had noticed earlier. "So, what could Naruto and Hinata have been teaching you that made you blush so bad?"

Ino blushed again.

xXxXxXx

"How is our little pet coming along, Tayuya?"

"Very well, Orochimaru-sama," the foul-mouthed redhead said from her position kneeling on the floor. "He never seems to take the training weights you provided for him off and I've observed him double his original workout schedule. He attempted to arrive at a team meeting late as their Jounin sensei is most often late by at least three hours, but he was called out by the Inuzuka and the sensei was forced to reprimand him by issuing even more physical training for a week."

"Thus far, the Uchiha's speed has made a marked increase, though still nothing worthy of praise. Similarly, his strength and stamina have increased and he seems to be taking to the spars quite well."

Orochimaru's gold eyes gleamed in the wake of such excellent news. "Do you think he is ready for a test?"

Tayuya hesitated only a moment in thought, thinking through what she knew of the boy. "I have not seen anything aside from his taijutsu. As you ordered, I did not exceed his fighting abilities and used only what he used, which I think is what he was doing. I believe he is ready, but don't have any information to work off of for jutsu knowledge."

"A minor detail," Orochimaru waved off airily. "I can teach the boy jutsu. It's his body I need to ... know."

Tayuya barely held in a shudder as the rumors of her masters perverted tastes ran through her mind, making his statements seem far more pedophilic in nature than even _she_ was comfortable with, and she was only sixteen. "Then I believe he is ready, my lord."

"Get the others ready and proceed with the plan. If he is worthy, give him my offer. If he is not, bring back his body for study."

"As you command, Lord Orochimaru," Tayuya said with a bow and quickly left to do as she was told. She also had a lot of foul language she had been forced to refrain from using and she was just waiting to let it out. It was a sick sense of humor on her master's part to force her to speak politely in his presence when he learned that her swearing was a mental quirk that she couldn't stop.

She'd be stopping every traveler on the road from Sound to Leaf to spend a few minutes cussing at each one just to relieve that itch.

xXxXxXx

Messenger Ninja Two-Two-Three-Nine let out a shuddering breath as he found himself surrounded by seven ninja who all bore hitai-ate of Whirlpool and the Uzumaki spiral on their clothes. The two women and five men all had odd scars on their faces, two on each cheek, showing it was some kind of ornamental or traditional happening than a war-time effect and they were all fully armed.

And he wasn't.

"So," the woman in the middle drawled out, "'what could a Messenger Ninja want with the Uzumaki', we asked ourselves. The legend says our name is the only one your group have ever feared, and now you come looking for us. So the question we have for you is, why? Why would the little rabbit come to the lions?"

"Are you truly Uzumaki?" Ranna asked before he could wizen up and keep his traitorous mouth shut. He also worried that he just sprouted a puffy, ball tail.

Quirking an eyebrow, the woman nodded and made a sarcastic showman's bow. "Uzumaki Rein, at your service, Mister Messenger Ninja."

Ranna blinked owlishly, thinking the name fit. The girl was extremely slender with an impressive chest that Jiraiya would give his left testicle to see, cobalt blue eyes and lighter blue hair, very pale skin with a heart-shaped face that, if commented on, could also be considered in the shape of a raindrop. Except this woman was scary. "Then you will find a scroll addressed to you in a storage seal on the calf of my left leg. Simply apply some chakra to remove it."

"Jinrai," Rein ordered, making the man on the far left step forward. Ranna almost squealed like a tiny little girl when he saw the man, who looked more like a bear or large tree, waggle his fingers with a sinister smile as he approached to pull up the bound ninja's leg and apply the proper chakra to cause the scroll to appear in a puff of smoke.

"It's authentic and from the Hokage," the beast of a man rumbled, his voice sounding like a lot of gravel.

_'Or a headstone moving,'_ Ranna thought with a shudder, considering his situation.

"A blood seal?" Rein asked curiously. "He would need an Uzumaki's blood in order to calibrate it to us." Able to see it was a true blood seal rather than high-quality trap, the woman nipped at her thumb and let a drop of blood fall into the seal, causing it to glow and melt.

After several seconds, in which her eyes widened to what would have been comical proportions had Ranna been more inclined to humor at the time, and her jaw dropping, she summed the letter up for her cohorts. "Kushina had a kid," she near whispered. "A boy she named Naruto."

"That girl had a seriously unhealthy interest in noodles," the second girl whispered to the man on her right.

Rein ignored it as she continued. "The kid's an orphan now. Kushina died right after childbirth, the night of the Kyuubi attack in Konoha. Her husband," here she paused to look at Ranna and then back to the others, "her husband died the same night to help defeat it. The Hokage says a lot of praiseworthy things about the boy, but not much that actually means a lot, oddly."

"Think it's sincere or another trick to get at the Trove?" Jinrai rumbled. The unasked question, of course, was whether they should get rid of the newcomer or not.

"Had to be," Rein said, staring at the page and wondering why it seemed off some how. "He'd need our blood to attune the seal to us."

"Kushina?" Sora, the other girl asked. "It as much as admits she was there."

Ranna looked at the girl and wondered at the choice of names as this girl had dark green, almost black, hair that hung below the girl's butt, hazel eyes that favored green and brown and was shorter than Rein and a much smaller chest with lemon-sized globes under very heavy-weight clothing. He figured her name would be more earth-oriented than sky.

"If she died that long ago, her blood would be useless for this. Chakra doesn't freeze like blood and that's how blood seals work, you know that," Rein chided. She was the one with a hobby in seals, but she talked about them enough that each of her allies should have remembered that much.

It was an odd thing that most who didn't know seals weren't aware of. A blood seal didn't check one's blood for lineage, but the chakra it contained to compare it to blood used when the seal was crafted, needing either a direct match, or one close enough to fool it. Lines of ink on paper couldn't check for someone's physical properties in their blood. That was absurd. It would be like saying the seal matrix could go back and tell you who your parents, grandparents and great grandparents were, names, favored techniques and all sorts of other impossible things.

That just wasn't the case. Like demons had unique chakra, humans did as well, and just as varied and related as blood. It was just so similar that, like blood, it was unique to familial lines. That was why fresh blood had to be used with so many sealings and why you couldn't use stolen blood to make a blood seal open up for you without the person right there next to you. The chakra it contained would disperse after perhaps five to ten minutes as it leaked out. And that chakra in the blood or special inks was what made seals function.

That was why you couldn't just copy a large seal from a book and expect it to work. Complex seals had to be too precise that only someone who practiced or was a seal master could write it to completion before the chakra dissipated. It was just a point of convenience that all inks in hidden villages were made for seal work in case it was quickly needed.

That unique nature inherent in blood was also what made summoning contracts so special. They couldn't tell anything about blood, but the unique nature of the chakra held within is what signed the contract and assigned a single person to the information held within to uphold that contract.

"That's assuming she actually died that long ago," Onara, the other male, interjected. He was of average height and build and looked unremarkable save for the luminous yellow of his eyes. If it weren't for his crescent-shaped dagger at his hip, Ranna was sure he would have forgotten the man's existence after his eyes left him.

xXxXxXx

"What do you think about how close they seem?" Anko asked Kurenai as they left Naruto's apartment building and began walking on the road back to Kurenai's home. Naruto and Hinata seemed incapable of physical separation while they spoke and somehow managed to move so subtly that they were snuggled up together before either Jounin was even aware of it with Naruto's arm over Hinata's shoulders and the small girl curled into his side. The movements had just seemed so fluid and natural that they couldn't recall them.

"They're comfortable with one another," Kurenai admitted, thinking over how right it had seemed for the two to be in each others' arms. "And are obviously much further along than I would have thought likely until an hour ago."

"True, but you heard what she was telling Ino in the tent about kunoichi maturing faster than civilians, and that is just as true for boys as it is girls. And, if they're to be believed, they are older in a way. A big part of why sexing 'em up young is frowned upon is because they are supposedly not mature enough to handle it. Ninja are forced to mature much faster and adult minds in kid bodies just kind of reinforces that. Not to mention that they are considered adults anyway and are allowed anything but drinking until Chuunin. And that's only because of how it affects their minds. Even if they're doing the nasty, there isn't anything wrong with it. It's almost expected that it'll happen since it's a damn fun and thorough way of relieving the stress of our job. If they _did_ come back, they may be used to it, though Hinata-chan didn't seem like that was the case."

Kurenai frowned and looked at the smirking purple-haired woman askance. "Still, they're a little _too_ comfortable, don't you think?"

Anko didn't answer immediately, but thought about what she had seen. Kurenai had been the one to brief the two Genin, having more patience for that sort of thing, so Anko had spent the majority of her time observing the other two, after Naruto's little friend was put away, anyhow. And aside from managing to get closer without being overly obvious, she had noticed a few things.

"Were they too comfortable? I don't think so. After all, I wound up losing my virginity younger than they are at nine, but I did notice one thing that intrigued me."

"Oh? What was that?" Kurenai asked, wondering what Anko saw. The woman was kinky as all hell and had some very strange fetishes that Kurenai would admit both thrilled and astounded her, but for Anko to get 'intrigued' meant that it had to be even outside of her own unique history.

"They weren't focusing on you or what you were saying nearly as much when they were separate than they did as they were closer and cuddling," Anko said slowly, almost as if thinking out loud. "I've been noticing it in the past few days, but hadn't really been able to quite figure out what I was seeing until we were actually briefing them."

Kurenai dissected Anko's thoughts as they turned into a slightly more upscale section of the village where most of the restaurants were. "So, you think their being close and possibly what they were doing before we showed up could be an actual need between them? That they can't focus as precisely without being near one another?"

Anko shrugged lightly. "I'unno. But, with what they said about _how_ they came back, isn't it possible that it could be? I mean, they said they had to blend a little with the fuzz ball, and most animals in the wild have a period where they go into heat. I don't think this is that, since they weren't rutting one out while we were there, but is it not possible it could be something similar?"

Kurenai winced as she admitted that it was, indeed, possible. "I don't know, but I'd have to say it's just as possible as it isn't. But what do we do about it? And is it going to effect them during missions or training?" Unasked was how it would affect them long-term.

"Wanna ask 'em about it tomorrow?" Anko asked, looking forward to such an uncomfortable discussion. The two teens had been rather confident as of late and she was perfectly willing to try and take them out of their comfort zones. It was always _so_ much fun!

"No," Kurenai said immediately with a shake of her head. Her views were completely different and she didn't want to get uncomfortable herself. "Let's keep an eye out for even the tiniest slip during performance and then call them on it. It hasn't appeared to have influenced them as of yet and I'd rather not discuss it if it won't. As far as I can tell, it's just making them want to be near each other. Nothing negative as of yet."

Anko giggled perversely. "What if it already has?" She asked brightly, poking fun at Kurenai's hesitation to talk sex. Her lover was an absolute minx in bed, but actually _talking_ about any of it had her embarrassed as hell. It was like she could _do_ just about anything and get off on it, but unless she was talking dirty, Kurenai just didn't seem to ever be comfortable discussing sex as a general topic.

"What do you mean?" Kurenai asked carefully as they turned onto her street in the residential district.

"Think about it. Ino's been a part of this team for over a month now and the two of them haven't excluded her at all. In fact, they're even including her in almost everything and our kinky little Hinata-chan is the one who started her new training with Naruto and the groping technique and stealing her panties to make her chase her when she could just tell her to do so. It's also our kinky little Hinata-chan who has been encouraging Ino to talk about sex with her and been teaching the girl to take care of her needs manually. Naruto's not been doing anything like that without prompting first unless it's specifically with Hinata."

Kurenai had been poised to unlock her front door when she paused half way through Anko's explanation and froze in shock as her girlfriend made far more sense than she was preparing for. "Oh my Kami," the red-eyed woman said quietly. "Hinata's even spoken about adding in other girls to their relationship."

"Exactly!" Anko exclaimed happily as she reached forward and unlocked the door for them and ushered Kurenai in. "I'm not even sure if Naruto's aware of it yet."

"Why are you so pleased about all of this?" Kurenai finally asked, noticing Anko looked far too happy. "This is only happening because they admitted that the Kyuubi changed her! This could all be some weird plan to escape or turn them into her own agents or something!"

"It's sex, Kurenai," Anko grunted. "And Hinata was right when she said that ninja their age have more hormones to fight against and, two people, whether in love or lust, won't want to fight all that much, especially when they're confined to small tents and situations where few clothes could be necessary. Surely you remember how it was. It wasn't that long ago, after all."

"I was older when I did it the first time," Kurenai defended. "And it wasn't out of lust. It was for a mission, just like you. I certainly wasn't looking forward to it or hoping it would happen. I just did my duty."

"That wasn't my point," Anko soothed. "They're young, in love and have no real reason not to bump uglies, though I don't know where in the hell Hinata thinks she can fit that thing. It's fucking hug-"

"Anko!"

The snake-Jounin smiled sheepishly. "Yes, they admit to being changed by the Kyuubi, but I don't see it controlling them. Otherwise, they wouldn't be helping Ino get stronger or talking about the future. Do you think the Kyuubi would talk about a future family together like those two during orientation? Though I do think she may be the cause of them needing to be close," she said, getting them back on track.

"Then we keep an eye on them and talk about it if we feel like we need to, yes?" Kurenai asked.

"Works for me," Anko agreed.

xXxXxXx

"He groped you!? And you _let_ him!?" Sakura near shrieked. "But! But he's _Naruto_!"

"And he stops as soon as I tell him to and he never once said anything to others or myself about it in any way to belittle me, mock me or just make fun of me, either," Ino admitted as calmly as she could even though her face was hot and red. She didn't feel she had to tell Sakura that she never stopped him or that she actually caught herself encouraging him at times. "He only talks about it whenever we're discussing the technique or what the training session entails and he has never, not even once, said anything disrespectful to me about my body."

"But ... He has to _touch_ you and you have to _feel_ it ...," the pink-haired girl said quietly and almost unbelievingly. "So, he's actually touched you ... _everywhere_ now?"

Ino nodded hesitatingly. "Yea, he has. But, it's only when I don't get free fast enough and he's told me that I can claim any places off limits, though that kind of defeats the purpose of getting me used to it, so I actually haven't."

"How long does it take you?" Sakura asked, natural curiousity and innate perversion fueling her thoughts. Oh, what she wouldn't give for training like that with Sasuke-kun!

"It ... depends," Ino said as she looked away from Sakura. "Sometimes I'll get it right away, but sometimes, I forget to keep trying and I'll take several minutes to get back to it." Internally, she couldn't stop herself from finishing the sentence, _'while I'm getting hotter and hotter until I explode.'_

"What ...," Sakura blushed and bit her lower lip in nervousness. "What does he do and how far do _you_ get?"

Ino cleared her throat. When she had thought about telling Sakura these things, she hadn't realized just how difficult it would be. She had been proud of her achievement and had wanted to tell her renewed friend about her new chakra technique, which the bookworm naturally had to learn the source of. And how Ino had learned about it. The blonde had tried to only tell part of the story and lie, but her lies had fallen around her and the truth had just ... come out. She would have to work with Anko-sensei about that.

"He'll touch me ... sexually and always ends up making me have an orgasm during the training," she finally admitted. "Every single time. It's like I only get free when I ... er, _finish_."

Sakura's face was as red as her dress and her jaw hanging loose. "Are you serious?" She whispered.

Ino nodded.

"Why would you let them do that, though?" Sakura had to ask. "Why do they force you to do that?"

"They don't 'force' me to do anything and I've always got the choice to stop," Ino rebuked immediately, making _very _sure that Sakura didn't misunderstand any of what she had just heard. It would _not_ do to have this get around and getting Naruto into trouble because of Sakura's own perceptions. "I can't recall exactly how, but we got into a discussion about escaping ropes and being bound, which got into rape and why it was so horrible and Hinata decided to teach me this technique the same way she learned it, which was Naruto doing this to her. We also chose to have Naruto t-touch me because it would help me be used to it if it was happening in the field and I had to do this while being molested or something."

"R-rape?" Sakura choked out. It was kind of amazing to realize how some topics weren't discussed in the Academy.

"Not so much at first," Ino amended. "But, it was pointed out that all kunoichi run the risk of being raped and just being touched by someone who would stop when I asked is much better and safer. But it helps, too. I won't be so scared if I get caught that I can't get free if I've been training to deal with being touched."

"Does he... uhm...," Sakura began to ask, gesticulating with her hand and imitating poking upwards with a finger, unable to ask.

Ino's eyes widened. "No! No, he hasn't put his finger inside. Just ... touched me down there."

"Oh," Sakura said with downcast eyes, totally embarrassed that her friend had gone through such things before she realized something. "Er, before we broke off our friendship, you said you tried... well, that it hurt when you did. Is it better now? Doesn't it hurt when he tries doing that?"

Ino blushed yet again. "I still can't do it myself. Hinata-chan explained why it hurt and it doesn't hurt now, but it doesn't feel as good as when Naruto-kun ... er, does it. I've never been able to ... finish on my own."

"Have you seen him?" Sakura asked despite herself. She knew she shouldn't be so focused on it, but damn it, she was a healthy, hormonal girl herself! She'd been successfully masturbating for three years already, thank you very much! Though, she had always found it amusing to think of Ino's inability to do the same, which she now felt a little bad for.

Ino blushed and nodded, measuring out with both hands and shocking Sakura. "Anyway," Ino began, feeling like she shouldn't discuss the details of that situation since she promised Hinata she wouldn't, "I brought this whole thing up because I was thinking about showing you some of the chakra control techniques if you want."

Sakura blushed and covered her chest with her arm, looking scandalized. "I ... er, don't feel comfortable..."

"No! We don't have to do that!" Ino practically yelled denials. "I mean just tree climbing, water walking or this technique without the touching if you want! I mean, no touching at all!"

The resulting silence was rather uncomfortable for both girls. Anko would have approved.

xXxXxXx

"Uzumaki-san's reports all show him to be a Genin of high skill, Danzo-sama. Likewise, he is currently active in an S-class mission that is classified under the Hokage's personal authority," the ROOT agent told his master. Danzo had always had the Kyuubi boy under observation, getting monthly reports on his progress, but these past few weeks had proven the boy to suddenly be quite adept at avoiding his searching agents.

Naturally, that made the old war hawk quite curious.

His agents had been able to learn that he had been spending almost all of his time with the Hyuuga heiress, not surprising as they were now teammates and it was well-documented that the girl had a severe infatuation with the boy. That was known as Danzo had all major clans being watched as well, which included their heirs.

Also, the Uzumaki was spending almost as much time training as he did just for being awake. With five hours of deep sleep each night, he woke up to train with Maito Gai and his star pupil, Rock Lee and didn't go to bed until most men would be dragging in exhaustion.

However, it was his training with the Yamanaka girl and the meetings with the Sandaime that none of his surveillance bugs had caught along with his sudden blossoming of skill that the scarred man was so curious about.

From what rumors he had heard, the boy had a rather ... _active_ romance with the Hyuuga heiress now and skills that were high enough that his Jounin sensei had felt the need to discuss it with the Hokage at which point he had given Team Eight free reign of Konoha resources.

While he could claim it to be senility on the Hokage's part, that in conjunction with an unknown S-class mission meant it meant something. What, however, was the question.

"Keep tabs on the boy and relay any new information as we receive it. I want to know everything we can find out about his sudden change."

"As you command, Danzo-sama."

As the ninja left his presence, Danzo sighed and pondered on the fate that awaited the Kyuubi boy. He would have preferred to raise the boy and train him to be the perfect weapon. With his regenerative capabilities, he could advance in physical training at a rate that would be beyond any humans outside of a bloodline limit, a fact Maito Gai was using to full effect so his favorite pupil would have a worthy sparring partner. And with his chakra capacity, even as it was now, he could teach the boy any number of jutsu and the Uzumaki could just fling them everywhere on the field. His blatant use of the Shadow Clone technique proved that. He was a veritable one-man army, if only he was properly trained so as to become that.

He had tried several times to acquire the boy, but Sarutobi had stopped him each and every time. It rather upset the one-eyed council member.

The good news, however, was that Sarutobi was more willing to grant him leeway and room to maneuver on almost all other matters just so he didn't push with the Uzumaki problem, following a pattern of compromise that made playing the old ninja surprisingly easy for such a shrewd political mind.

And that worked to his favor.

By building up everything he could right now, then he could gain the backing of the other council members and eventually get to the point where the position of 'Hokage' was merely a showcase position where he was truly in control of matters within and without of Konoha.

Unfortunately, that was still a little time away. He didn't quite have the resources to claim authority over the whole Council, yet. The ninja portion were just as strong and firm as he, himself, was, and could back up any threats or promises they made.

The civilians on the council, however, were foolish simpletons who could be intimidated into quite literally anything. He had them eating out of his pocket on every matter. It was even to the point where he could dismiss them whenever he chose. But right now, they were numbers that worked to his favor. But once their use was done, they would be gone and he would be left to rule Konoha as it was meant to be ruled.

Which was why he was collaborating with Orochimaru. Had he been the Yondaime Hokage, Konoha could have been at the height of power by now and with his experimentations, they could have engineered a new bloodline with the combined effects of all the others they had.

But they had gone for Namikaze Minato, of all people to become Yondaime Hokage.

No matter. Soon, they would be rid of those within the village that kept them from that wonderful vision and Konoha could start anew. That was what Orochimaru had offered in exchange for jutsu, Sarutobi's death and sharing of all the bloodlines they could come across.

xXxXxXx

"Alright, everyone's had their permission slips signed and turned in," Iruka told Team Eight a week later. "Are you sure you can handle them all?" He asked, eying the students of his new class of ninja-to-be askance. Sixty-five young children were practically vibrating in their seats as they touched the issued packs with fidgeting hands. The Hokage had authorized the Academy to get a couple dozen field packs, filled with Academy-issued sleeping bags, field rations, first-aid kits and blunted weapons designed to be brightly visible thanks to bright orange, neon paint in case of careless throws. Such equipment was like the symbol of an incredibly awesome job to their young minds, something that announced they were important and doing important things and they just couldn't stop touching them, feeling like it meant something, even if they were only going to be camping overnight.

The only exceptions to those children sitting in their seats, fidgeting like squirrels on a sugar rush, were Hyuuga Hanabi, who was still recovering from the beating her older sister had given her and barely able to mold chakra, and Sarutobi Konohamaru and his two best friends Udon and Moegi. Those particular three were piled on top of Naruto while Hinata did her best to keep him held down.

Ino and Anko were telling the little hooligans where he was most ticklish, much to his dismay, while Kurenai did her best to pretend it wasn't happening.

The red-eyed woman was unsure of the Hokage's current plan for her team. Currently, only she, Anko and Hinata actually knew the full extent of it, though only the two Jounin knew his reasons.

What this class knew was that two separate classes were being joined together to go on this excursion into the forested area of training ground thirteen; it was a place close to the Inuzuka complex, but furthest away from the town and public places so they could go deep without going somewhere dangerous.

Having the two classes meant not everyone knew everyone else, so the hidden Team Ten could infiltrate the class as students from another class and none of the students would make a fuss and, with Naruto's casual use of Kage Bunshin, Team Eight was more than enough force to keep the kids in line.

Kurenai was a bit disappointed that Naruto and Ino didn't notice the constant use of three illusions running in the room, but that was part of why Anko was helping in Naruto's torture; keep their attentions elsewhere. Hinata was already aware of it, so there was nothing to worry about there.

"We'll be fine, Iruka-san," Kurenai replied to the man's earlier query. "We'll only be out for a couple of days and are more than enough for this."

"Are you brats ready!?" Anko cried out from where she had been tickling Naruto's side in vague hopes he would whiz himself.

"YEAH!" They all cried out happily, save for a few who were more reserved.

"All right!" Anko exclaimed, pointing off into the distance. "To the Forest of Death!"

She was met by silence before one little girl in the back squeaked and fell from her chair as she passed out.

"What?" Several choked voices asked quietly, disbelieving what they had just heard. The rumors of that place were that people didn't come out of there alive... and now they were going to go there?

"Don't listen to her," Naruto said as he stood up with his three 'subordinates' hanging off of him like leeches. "We're going to training ground thirteen. If you need to change your pants, please do so now and we'll leave in five."

They waited the five minutes for two boys and the blushing girl who had passed out earlier to return and then headed on their way in two columns for the march across the village and into the training grounds.

xXxXxXx

Tayuya was very pissed.

She and the other members of the Sound Four had infiltrated Konoha once again, laughing at the fact that it was pathetically easy. They had a tunnel that literally allowed them to walk right into the village from the northern sector within the Forest of Death, which was incidentally almost due west of where Team Eight and a large group of kids were having what amounted to a large camping trip. And further east was their current position, Team Seven's training ground.

Tayuya was _still_ pissed.

Kakashi had the group do some D-rank missions and, once lunch came about, told them to exercise with various push-ups, sit-ups and laps around the clearing before poofing off to do Kami knows what.

It wasn't like he was doing a 'who', after all...

For Tayuya's purposes, that was ideal, even though she normally got disgusted by those actions. The Inuzuka knew he got better training from his clan and generally left after quickly finishing the required exercises, and today was no exception.

Sadly, that was true on all counts. The Uchiha, for example, was still running through the exercises, tripling the required repetitions and that _fucking_ pink-haired _fangirl_ was sitting under a tree in the shade, watching him like a creepy, staring, drooling and lusting stalker!

All Tayuya wanted to do was slip a kunai between those unblinking green eyes.

Finally, _finally_, the fangirl looked to the sky and determined she had to be home soon for dinner, having spent almost the whole latter half of the day staring at the Uchiha working on chakra control and exercises, and said a goodbye to her teammate, getting ignored in return, and left, making Tayuya grin madly. _'About fucking time! Get out of here you stupid bitch! I'm ready to play with my new toy!'_

She, and the other members of the Sound Four, had been waiting for this for the past day and a half, and most of that day. They had planned meticulously, and now it was time to show off.

Tayuya leapt outwards and rushed the Uchiha mid-push-up and tried to land a drop kick on his head, grinning like a loon as he pushed off hard and basically threw himself several feet away. He let out a smirk as he saw who it was.

Without warning, Sasuke shot forward and punched towards her face, smirking wider as she dodged and backhanded him in his side. Yes, he was getting his ass handed to him, and by a girl no less, but he was getting in several good hits himself, so he believed. And this wasn't a _fangirl_, so it wasn't _really_ like being beat up by a girl. It was like being beat up by one of the guys.

Even with his limited social skills, he was smart enough not to voice that thought out loud, though. No girl, regardless of how little they appeared to take care of their appearance, didn't like being called a guy. But then, every girl he had ever met seemed to take abnormal care regarding their appearance and every girl he had ever met tried to become his girlfriend, or more, within minutes of meeting him.

For twenty long and grueling minutes, the duo fought, kicked, punched and during one grappling hold where his hands had gone somewhere they shouldn't, a flurry of attacks that he wasn't sure _what_ they were, just that they were fast and painful.

And worth every second of it!

Sasuke had been doubting if his silent assailant was actually a woman. Sure, she had relatively soft features, but she wore baggy clothes, kept her hair in absolute ruin, could keep up with him and didn't speak. Those were not the traits of _any_ girls he knew.

So he put it to the test, happy to find out that those baggy clothes hid some very impressive endowments.

What he didn't know was that she was a Sound kunoichi. As such, it was a real risk during her last few years growing up that the village, filled with almost purely missing nin and bandits who got crash courses and training, baggy clothes and a horrid appearance was almost necessary to keep one's self from becoming the physical plaything for a stronger ninja. In fact, her baggy clothes, dirty and ratty appearance and even her tendency to be angry and mean was all a carefully-crafted outward persona to keep herself protected.

The cussing was simply a quirk that seemed to work to her favor.

Ninja in every single village didn't normally teach without some reason or some form of payment. Teachers did so, but were compensated with money or given orders. Sometimes, a ninja would take a liking to someone they saw who impressed them in some way and they would teach that person just to see what they could mold from the raw talent.

Others received payments in the form of sexual favors, which was the case, more often than not. Even in Konoha. And the Hidden Village of Sound was no exception! It was practically an unwritten rule! If you were a kunoichi and wanted to learn _anything_, you were going to spread your legs for someone to teach you something and if they enjoyed themselves, you were taught better and more likely to survive for another lesson. Being pretty in that village was tantamount to being taken and then given a scroll or words of advice as a parting gift, usually the latter on how not to get ambushed and used. The same held true for some of the men as well, though they talked about it even less than the kunoichi. You didn't want to be a 'pretty boy' in Sound any more than you did in prison.

As an intelligent and observant girl, Tayuya recognized that she should appear as little more than a ratty beggar with a high penchant for attacking anyone who so much as eyed her wrong and who trained as thoroughly as she could while maintaining a constant level of situational awareness during her original lessons until she became an honest-to-Kami kunoichi where someone strong and powerful could take her under their wing and hopefully under their protection, rather than under their bodies.

Sound village was made up of most of the worst sort of scum Orochimaru could find and all were loyal only to themselves, so it was no wonder that she hated the personification of weakness Sakura portrayed. That girl would have been passed around like currency in Otogakure until she was this broken, shell of a person and no longer able to be called a Genin. Tayuya was disgusted at the pink-haired girl because she had no reason in being a Genin.

No. Part of one's 'true test' to pass a Sound Village's Genin test, much like Konoha's second test after being assigned teams, you had to individually plan out some way of breaking the law and getting away with it, giving those plans to the one to judge you and, depending on what it was and how dangerous, you either passed or had other tests required of you while your illegal act was eventually posted on a board so others could see what kind of credit you got.

Tayuya knew from the very beginning that she wanted to be a powerful and well-known kunoichi. So, she had elected to kill twenty Jounin. She had never been the fastest or strongest and didn't have any powerful bloodlines, which she felt was a good thing since Orochimaru would have cracked her open to examine to his heart's content. But she was an incredible strategist and knew how to plan for contingencies and judge a person's strengths and weaknesses. And she used her intellect effectively to determine the best way to make her name special in Sound.

It had actually been very easy. A little skin, some poisoned sake delivered into a pub and forged documents showing her as an undercover Genin looking for what may be a spy, and she dosed those Jounin, twelve Chuunin and roughly thirty-seven standard bandits, all known to be habitual rapists, thieves and murderers, had earned her the marks that got Orochimaru's eye, along with a healthy number of bounties on the missing ninja's heads. It had been ... liberating ... seeing the faces of those who were paying out to someone who wasn't even of Genin rank yet, which had been withheld by Orochimaru's orders for the fun of seeing the various reactions of those doling out the money.

And that was what allowed her to get a new toy in the form of Uchiha Sasuke! She wasn't really sure what it was about him, but she loved these spars. There was no romantic or lusty interest, she knew. She was about as interested in males as an Akimichi was in dieting.

No. Tayuya was relatively sure it was all about the fact that _she_ was the one creating something out of this particularly useless ninja. He was her pet, no matter what anyone else wanted him to be. Well, except for Orochimaru. She wasn't sure what the snake sannin wanted him for, exactly, but his desires were her desires.

So, once the last Uchiha had copped a feel of his unknown assailant, the other three members of the Sound Four showed themselves, hoping to direct the redhead's fury towards them instead of the boy she would turn into a paste.

"Uchiha Sasuke. We're here to extract you from this village and take you to ours or eliminate you so no one has you. Are you going to come willingly, or do we have to go to plan B?" Jiroubou asked with a sneer. The man was not much taller than Sasuke, but he was certainly much larger. He was heavier, kind of like an Akimichi, but seemed to have a red mohawk and hair only around his head as if he purposefully removed the hair of his head like a 'V' shape.

Behind the larger man were two others. One, Kidoumaru, was very tan and lanky, with dark gray hair held back in a spiky ponytail and wearing a sleeveless shirt, that was probably to let his other _four _arms fit, and a cocky smirk with a large purple rope tied at his waist and a Sound hitai-ate over his forehead.

The other, Sakon, had gray skin, bluish-gray hair with bangs covering his right eye and a hairy growth from the back of his left shoulder, who was actually his smaller, twin brother, Ukon. He seemed to be trying to pass himself off as a woman with turquoise lipstick and brown eyeliner and a beaded necklace around his neck over a tunic-like shirt that may have been a slight attempt to look like a dress.

As they had expected, giving him an ultimatum pushed him away from doing what they wanted and made the last Uchiha choose to resist whatever they wanted. "Hn."

These people talked too much. Why couldn't they be like his sparring partner and simply either attack or pass on by? Ninja were meant to fight and cheap talk didn't really mean much to someone who had a person they had to kill who was currently leagues above their own level.

"You two attack the girl. I've got this piece of trash," Kidoumaru ordered, smirking at the tired Uchiha. They had planned this for after he and Tayuya had been fighting to ensure they were relatively weak. Well, the Uchiha was. He had just been working out for several hours and had sparred for twenty minutes. Tayuya was actually still relatively okay since she had greater reserves and far greater physical fitness than the boy, so she was hardly winded. Still, she put on quite a show.

Immediately, Sakon and Jiroubou rushed towards Tayuya and engaged in a taijutsu battle at a level several steps above where she had been fighting Sasuke until Jiroubou hit her with a roundhouse that she blocked, but was still shot into a tree that splintered from the impact.

"It's fun to watch, isn't it?" Kidoumaru asked rhetorically as he smiled brightly at Sasuke who was using the time to recuperate and planned to attack only after this moron, who had the _audacity_ to attack an Uchiha, attacked first. "We're at a much higher level than you brats. Wanna see some of our special moves?"

"Let's go, bug boy," Sasuke taunted, looking forward to a good fight, even as Tayuya landed a dropping heel kick to the fat guy's groin after flipping him over her shoulder.

Strange how he felt ... proud ... of her. Stranger still how that made him feel more confident.

Maybe it was the guy's screams?

Kidoumaru scowled. "_Spider_ boy, is more like it, kid. I've got ultimate arts that you could only dream of," he said dangerously. "For example," he flashed through several hand seals and stopped on the tiger seal, stamping his foot and causing eight pillars of flame to erupt from the ground and head off towards the shocked Uchiha who didn't recognize the technique from the fire jutsu scrolls he had.

Sasuke leapt to the side to dodge the fire and smirked as he flashed through handseals for his own technique, deciding to fight fire with fire, so to speak. "Katon: Grand Fireball!"

Kidoumaru smirked and raised a wall of earth three feet thick to cover him for the fireball and an underground move to get behind the last Uchiha, who had been waiting for him to approach from behind the barrier and kicked him in the side, taking him by surprise. "You decided not to come with us and join the winning team, so you've got to die. If you want to try and live, you'll have to do better than that to score points against me!"

Sasuke wiped the blood from his lip where he had landed and skid on his face as he got up, now quite angry. He chanced a glance at the silent redhead just in time to see both men try to kick her in the sides, only for her to grab their legs and spin them around like a top and flung them away. Well that was certainly an idea...

The Uchiha leapt up and launched several kunai to the multi-armed bastard, only to have each deflected by kunai from each of his hands. _'Damn those extra hands are a pain in the ass,'_ Sasuke thought as his opponent jumped and kicked him in the side, sending him to the ground beneath them.

He landed hard on his side and used the illusion of getting up slowly to flash through seals before turning and launching an attack at the boy in the air above him. "Katon: Phoenix Flame Burst!"

Sasuke smirked as the attack hit until the enemy poofed into smoke and revealed a charred and smoking log. He could almost feel the smirk of the six-armed man behind him as he leapt away, aware of the blade headed towards his neck.

Tayuya was once again getting pissed. No one liked to lose a fight, but she was being double-teamed by her teammates who she normally did her best to destroy during fights. And now they were smiling as they got free opportunities to beat her up until they found a point where the Uchiha couldn't win.

_'That little fucker had better up the ante soon, damnit! I'm getting tired of this shit!'_ Tayuya tossed a kunai, stolen from Jiroubou's pouch, towards Kidoumaru, forcing him to lean backwards on instinct and giving her pet the second needed to fully escape death and, while he was looking away, she decked her two opponents, wiping those insufferable smirks off of their faces. _'Take that, bitches.'_

Sasuke turned just after Tayuya's stolen kunai embedded itself in the ground and received a kick to his face, sending him backwards, followed by Kidoumaru who began a relentless assault on the boy.

Tayuya smirked as Sasuke lost all control over his fight and became nothing more than Kidoumaru's bitch; at least as far as she saw it. She ground Jiroubou's face into the dirt with her foot on the back of his head while simultaneously punching Sakon's face as the gray-haired boy tried to wriggle out of her headlock.

Both boys were lamenting the fact that they weren't allowed to win the fight at this stage, Sakon more than the other. She didn't use deodorant.

It had been a very simple, but beautiful plan. Sasuke was to get his ass handed to him quite thoroughly, which is why the show-off was used to fight the last Uchiha, since Kidoumaru preferred to toy with his opponents. Sasuke would continue to get his ass handed to him until Tayuya came to the rescue with the first stage of her Cursed Seal.

Almost bouncing in glee, the redheaded woman activated her seal to the second stage and launched both of her victims, much to their surprise as it wasn't a part of the plan, into Kidoumaru once it became obvious that Sasuke was beginning to evade several of his strikes as he began to dodge some of the punches the multi-handed enemy threw at him and leaping out of the way of several shuriken.

xXxXxXx

"Alright Naruto. Set up clones for everyone and help them set up their tents. Hinata, you and Ino get to gather fire wood. Grab a kid and get them to help. They're cheap labor and if they don't listen, you can leave them in the woods to fend for themselves," Anko demanded.

"Yes, Sensei," both girls responded as Hinata grabbed her sister and Ino found herself with the little girl who had fainted earlier stuck to her leg and looking like she would only be removed with a pry bar.

Konohamaru, Udon and Moegi each had a Naruto clone that they were receiving piggyback rides from, much to their consternation.

"Damnit brats! I'm not a horse!" One of the clones yelled out.

"So, the poles go through the holes and into the caps at the bottom?" One of the boys asked a Naruto clone as he was watching his teammate feed the poles through the sleeves on the rounded tent.

"Yea, just make sure you don't go too fast or you could rip the tent and then it's worthless except to patch up another one if you've got the materials to do it," the clone responded. "Trust me. If you make a rip and it rains, you'll be floating in the water from the inside in the morning."

The kids laughed, not realizing Naruto was telling them about a time when he had been pranked by Jiraiya for ruining his tent and that all of that 'rain' had actually been from one of the larger frog summons and ... it hadn't exactly been rain...

xXxXxXx

Sasuke looked at his sparring partner with wide eyes as their three opponents were thrown across the clearing like rag dolls. She had been covered in dirt, before, but now her skin was dark brown with dark circles around her eyes that had become golden-yellow. Her hair lengthened and she had grown what appeared to be large, thick horns from her head that looked like some demonic version of a crown.

_'Beautiful,'_ Sasuke thought as he watched the girl fly through the air in seemingly slow motion, captivated by the sight, as she punched the males and sent them careening across the clearing and into trees. She hadn't done _that_ during their sparring sessions! He could see the aura of power surrounding her and the chakra coursing through her veins!

The ferocious redhead looked to her toy with a victorious smirk, only for her eyes to widen. Her toy was staring at her with one of his eyes the dark, blood red of the Sharingan with a single tomoe gazing back at her. And it appeared as though a kunai swipe had grazed his eyebrow and cheek in a downward motion that barely grazed his eyelid. Though the blood dribbling down made his appearance even more fierce as he scowled at their enemies once over his shock over her appearance. "Well, well, Pet. It appears as though you've fucked up, but earned a battle scar and a new eye out of it. If you weren't so much fucking fun, even if you are damn ugly, I'd be pissed at you for getting damaged. I've been teaching you better than that, you little cum bucket!"

Naturally, she hadn't actually taught him a whole lot in words, but in kicking his ass and showing him the counters for those various moves. Usually amidst kicking his ass some more.

Sasuke's eyes widened as he closed one eye to look through it and then the other to see the difference. His vision was abnormal in seeing naturally from his right eye and in hyper-clarity with his left, but he didn't even notice the difference until his sparring partner mentioned it. _'Finally,'_ he thought. _'I'm a true Uchiha!'_

The vengeance-seeker smirked as their opponents ran away, obviously cowed by the power of his Sharingan, even incomplete like it was, and watched as the red-headed woman stomped towards him, her changes reverting back to normal between steps, showing some of those baggy clothes were because her body was larger when using whatever power he saw in her. It was only fitting that she be there to see his progress and that she take in his majesty.

"Now that you've got that, it's time to talk, taijutsu bitch."

Or not.

"My name is _Uchiha_ Sasuke, in case you didn't know," Sasuke said, unsure as to whether he should be happy or pissed that this _woman_ was so disrespectful. He was never spoken to in such a manner!

So why did he want her to keep doing it? And why did it make him feel ... frisky?

Still, it couldn't be allowed to go unchallenged. "Speak to me like that again, and I'll-"

He was cut off as the red-headed woman knocked him flat on his ass, spun him to his stomach and then kicked him right between his bony cheeks, putting her toes right up his poop-chute. "Scream taijutsu-bitch! Scream!" The horrible woman cried out gleefully.

"Fucking bi-i-i-tch!" Sasuke yelled out, horrified at the realization that he had been able to see her movements since she didn't move at her fastest, but he was far too slow to react in time to stop the pain.

Tayuya fell down on top of the last 'loyal' Konoha Uchiha as he tried to push himself up and grabbed his hands, locking them behind his back and putting her smiling lips up to her toy's ear. "Tell wonderful Tayuya-sama she's the greatest, Pet, and I won't rape you with a kunai." As if to emphasize her point, she ground her knee into his already stinging anus, relishing in his grunts of pain. "Fucking say it, taijutsu-bitch!"

Sasuke attempted a mule-kick into the red-headed girl's back, but found her legs holding his down. It was such a horrible realization that he was at some _girl's_ mercy, who was threatening something he was quite against and never thought possible, that he did exactly as he was told. "Tayuya-sama is the best," he bit out through gritted teeth.

Tayuya grinned wickedly and nuzzled the peeved boy's cheek with her own dirt-encrusted one. "Good boy," she cooed. "My master is the Snake Sannin, Orochimaru. That power you saw me use, he wants to offer you, if you're willing to serve him. He'll teach you jutsu and to use your eyes to kill the man you plan to, but he wants you to recreate your bloodline in his village and be his primary enforcer as payment to get the techniques and the seal. It has several levels that get stronger as you go, if you're strong enough to survive the infusion of power," she gloated, wriggling to stay on top of the squirming boy until he stilled after hearing about the promise of power.

"How much more power?" The Uchiha asked with narrowed eyes.

"Only ten percent of those who take the empowerment seal are strong enough to survive it," Tayuya whispered seductively, licking her lips. She didn't give a damn about the boy in any sort of manner related to lust or sex. The high she was getting from this was perverting the boy as her own, personal toy to play with and into serving her master. It was infinitely more fun and _so_ much more satisfying!

"If you can survive just simply receiving the seal, then the power has two levels and one forbidden that no one has ever activated and survived. The first grants you a little more strength and speed with a massive chakra boost. The second level. Well, that's what you saw me with. I didn't even need to go all out to knock those punks around. I just wanted an excuse to. What do you think? Are you-" she cut off long enough to grab the prone boy's groin and squeezed, making him grit his teeth while refusing to make a sound, "-_man_ enough for it? It would mean betraying this pathetic excuse for a village, eventually, but you would get the power you seek."

Sasuke breathed out slowly as her vice-like grip on his balls was released and took a moment to examine his options. One one hand, this girl had him unable to defend himself while she was providing an offer of everything he wanted, and was very possibly going to kill him now that her offer was given and if he refused.

On the other hand, he realized other villages may very well offer the same things with more in the deal.

"What if I refuse? What if I said it sounds good, but I wanted more?"

"My master will give you everything you desire, as long as you're loyal and are worth his gifts," Tayuya purred. It was actually a little disturbing, considering she was very dirty and smelled ... well, perhaps it was best not to think about the powerful stench that wasn't all sweat. "What more do you want beyond power? Hundreds of techniques? A powerful leader?"

"What if I wanted _you_?" Sasuke asked, his smirk back full force as he felt the hand on his groin pull back quickly and the body atop of him still. "What if I decided I want you to be shown your place and service me each night for how you're treating me now? Would your master give me that to satisfy me?"

As a measure of self defense, Sasuke's ass hole clenched tightly closed as he felt the sharp point of a kunai press into his backside. Maybe trying to call the girl's bluff was actually a very bad idea? A very, _very_ bad idea!

"You _could_ ask that, unless you would rather _not_ sing soprano," Tayuya hissed, feeling the material of her bad pet's pants give as the kunai broke through. _'Hooray for sweet, blessed, male anal rape!'_ Tayuya mentally decreed.

"Or not," Sasuke squeaked out, his face contorted into the expectation of agony to come until Tayuya removed the blade seconds later.

"Good boy," she responded. "If you want more, you can discuss it later. For now, you should hide your eyes while working to advance them. Don't even let your sensei know."

"Why not," Sasuke snarled out. He had been waiting for this moment! He was only just _now_ finally a true Uchiha! He had finally activated his birthright! And some man-hating bitch was going to tell him to hide it!?

"It's a trump card that will be a secret weapon against any enemies who don't know you've got it, for one, you little shit," Tayuya growled out. "Only a fucking idiot would let everyone know of their true strength and all of their techniques and abilities. Especially if you want to join Orochimaru-sama! If these fuckers know you have the Sharingan, they will know to watch out for it."

_'That ... was pretty smart,'_ Sasuke agreed with himself. If he was going to go to another village, then they would try to send even more people to get him to come back in they know he's got a functioning Sharingan.

"I'm in," Sasuke said with his smirk back in place. "When do we do this?"

xXxXxXx

"Oh, yea!" Chouji sighed out happily as he, Shino and Shikamaru entered their tent and each released their illusions of Academy students. He glanced at his watch and then whistled. "Holding that thing up had me nearing my limits! I only had fourteen minutes from my record before I'd have lost it."

"We were close to our limits as well," Shino stated, receiving an update from his kikaichu bugs. Having the best chakra control and reserves than his teammates, Shino unsealed several high-energy foods, most of it for the Akimichi who had been forced to stop eating outside of arranged meal times. It was doable, but he was miserable the whole time.

"We'll gather our energy and proceed with our objective as planned. It should actually be easier than we thought. Did you see how she moved around? I haven't seen her use chakra at all today," Shikamaru explained. He wasn't thrilled with the idea, but he was the one who found himself in the position of team leader since Chouji naturally deferred to him and Shino ... Well, the Aburame seemed to just be happy for the team to have a function and seemed to have fallen into the support role. It may have just been that he was naturally more quiet and Chouji had already elevated his Nara best friend.

"She appeared injured," Shino stated. "She had wounds peppering her arms and neck that corresponded with known tenketsu points, stepped heavily and was constantly shifting her pack throughout our march."

"It makes our mission all the easier," Shikamaru said, getting into his sleeping bag and setting his wristwatch to go off early. "Let's get what rest we can. Everyone will be going to bed now that our dinner is over with.

xXxXxXx

Hinata sighed as the orange-pink sky seemed to brighten just a little more. She loved mornings, even more so than the wonderful view a setting sun could provide. Sunsets were a time of winding down and life slowing to rest, but mornings were a time of rebirth and awakening; when everything was fresh and when quiet reigned supreme. She got through the majority of her most strenuous exercises to keep in shape and push her body to its limits, it was peaceful and the world itself was just waking to begin its day.

And even though she was removing most of the orange from his clothes, the morning light reminded her of the only man she had ever loved. Uzumaki Naruto. Her mate.

For so long, she had seen him as a strength to emulate. In order to become strong and to grow into what she wanted to be, into _who_ she wanted to be, she had to try and become him in essence. Never give up. Never surrender. Never stop attempting to achieve her goals. He was a failure, never really able to do things the way he was expected to or in a way that was expected with the means he _did_ use. It was truly amazing to watch. He could find some ingenious method around his limitations that amazed and astounded anyone who watched him succeed.

It wasn't until after the boy had left on his training trip with Jiraiya and he was no longer there to watch and gain strength from, directly, that she realized her error. She didn't want to follow him anymore.

She wanted to walk _beside_ him. She wanted to be worthy of him so that she could be his.

Her focus had originally been on trying to grow to be like the boy she saw in the Academy and at that point about seven months after he left, it became to be someone equal to him. Originally, she saw in him an inspiration to better herself, which eventually turned into love of the boy himself. And she wanted to be someone worth loving in his eyes. She found she had a selfish streak. She wanted to be his and his only. Even if it meant sharing him with Sakura, she would do so, just so he would be hers. But she planned on growing stronger and better than Sakura in every way so that the pink-haired shrew would pale in comparison to the Hyuuga Heiress.

When he came back, she had been working to her new vision for two years of his three-year training trip and she found herself successful. Her own Hyuuga-based abilities were better, as was her chakra control and everything regarding taijutsu, even though neither had really seemed to gain much ground on ninjutsu techniques, but it was in his sensei's specialties that Naruto had grown while Hinata had invented a few of her own techniques and learned what Kurenai was willing to teach her individually, which wasn't as much as she would have done had the red-eyed woman not been sent on more missions due to a lack of higher-ranking ninja after the invasion.

Four years of war with the Hidden Sound village, and those who had allied themselves with Orochimaru, had her fighting beside Naruto repeatedly as needed until two and a half years before their trip back in time when Sasuke had finally killed Sakura, the only one on Team Seven who still held out belief that he wanted to return to Konoha and had offered herself to him. Her death had been slow, torturous and messy. They never did find out why he had saved her skin.

From that point forward, Hinata had been by Naruto's side as friend, confidante and new teammate since both were trained by a Sannin since Sasuke seemed to want to be the only one and was out for the blood of any others, including Kabuto and Shizune. For three whole years, Hinata's deepest fantasies, at least those she thought were realistic, were realized and she fought beside him.

And then they began dating.

It had actually been almost accidental when it had happened. They had been coming back from an intelligence gathering mission and came across one of Orochimaru's experiments where the Snake Sannin had taken Sasuke's knowledge of Haku to hunt down other ice-wielders to steal their bloodline and had succeeded. While they had won the fight, it had left Hinata with a severe case of hypothermia from being encased in ice before Naruto broke her free.

She had already passed out due to the cold and lack of oxygen.

It was just incredible luck, or hidden perversions, that had made Jiraiya succeed in forcing Naruto to read his works in which a similar incident had occurred where the young lovers had fallen into an icy river. Naruto used a basic earth technique to create a huge cavern underground with a vent so they'd have plenty of air and shucked both of their clothing, knowing body heat was best to warm someone who was so cold since the clothing was wet and any fires or fire-based techniques could actually stop her heart if she was warmed up too quickly due to shock.

Hinata had been nearly molesting him when he awakened. She had thought it was some wonderful dream and planned on getting as much out of it as she could before awakening to whatever the real life situation may have been which would not be nearly as ... satisfying.

That was part of why they did little more than kiss and some wonderful exploration through fondling until they had come back in time. Outside of being taught that it was wrong since early childhood, she was constantly afraid of losing control.

And now she was totally okay with that.

Odd as it sounded, she found herself more intrigued that she wasn't bothered by how quickly they progressed once coming back in time than they had ever gone before hand than she was in how far they had actually come after returning to their past. And would soon be going, if she had her way.

She had her mate. She had plans to include at least one more mate that she was sure would appreciate Naruto-kun so she could enjoy Naruto's attentions when she really wanted to and they shared the knowledge that they would never be parted of their own accord.

They were apparently married in a demonic merging of some sort. Hinata planned on discussing that with the Kyuubi once the she-demon woke back up. She was _very long_ overdue for her wedding night if that were the case! And it was becoming extraordinarily difficult to not rape the boy, or beg for him to take her, wherever they may be at the time she got the urge.

It happened a lot when they were in his apartment or in restaurants.

But all of that was why she was sitting out in the cool morning air rather than in her tent, curled in Naruto's arms.

She was about to do something horrible to him.

Naruto and Hinata had suspected the Hokage would still have trouble believing both them and their story. They even planned on the possibility that they'd have to speak with Yamanaka Inoichi about the whole thing as well, which they thought was a near certainty when Ino joined their team.

Or Ibiki. But they felt that was a _little_ harsh for the peace-loving Hokage.

They hoped. They _really_, _really_ hoped.

No. Hinata had her own role to play in this babysitting mission that she wasn't really sure would go over well.

She watched with her Byakugan active as three apparent Cloud ninja met up with her on the outskirts of their camp, the largest one holding the bound, gagged and wide-eyed form of her sister who was was kicking in a futile attempt at escape. Her chakra coils were still damaged and, while she was capable of molding chakra, it hurt her to do so and she was smart enough to wait until a better opportunity presented itself.

"We thank you for your sister," the large one holding Hanabi grunted, turning just enough so the now still form of the littlest Hyuuga could see her sister's sinister smirk. "We are sure the Raikage will appreciate her."

Hinata's smirk almost faltered as her little sister let out a pitiful whimper as she recognized the fact that Hanabi realized she was being sacrificed. "The little bitch has been a thorn in my side for far too long," Hinata responded in a light tone. "Just remember her head is to be mailed to me once he's taken whatever uses he has for her."

As expected, Hanabi's struggles intensified as she was exposed to such a helpless situation for the first time. She attempted screaming through her gag and calling out for help as tears fell down her face and she ignored the pain to her body as she flailed around.

"Let me make it easier for you," Hinata offered, reaching behind Hanabi's neck as she looked into her little sister's terrified eyes. "Goodbye, Hanabi-chan," she said, kissing the girl's forehead gently even as her finger shot a jolt of chakra to knock her out.

"I'm glad that's over with," the large man said again, readjusting the dead weight on his shoulder.

"Now for the next phase," a taller, lanky Cloud ninja said with a sigh, his hands in his pockets as the third blinked slowly, his posture remaining impeccable and seemingly taking everything around him in at once without seeing any of it.

Hinata nodded sadly before taking out the sealing scroll the Hokage had given her and laying it on the ground as Kurenai walked over to them.

"Remember what to do if he finds you," the red-eyed woman warned before flashing through a long series of hand seals as Hinata unsealed the mannequin from the scroll and jabbed one of the kids' bright orange practice kunai into its chest.

"Ninpou: Sustained Illusion."

xXxXxXx

Sasuke finally made it to his family home as the sun was rising, having to evade the random fangirl herd that tried to ambush him. That they were out so early in the mornings, despite their lowered numbers, was really quite disconcerting to him.

Sasuke, while only believed by his fangirls for their own oblivious dreams and fantasies, was actually very sentimental. He kept every gift given to him by anyone who he believed was of any consequence. After the massacre of his family, that was really only the Hokage and any technique scrolls that anyone was willing to give him that held something powerful within. Sadly, there were laws against that, though, so it only happened once or twice, and he didn't have the chakra capacity to learn them, much to his ire.

Which was actually why it was illegal to give such techniques to those not already ninja unless you were their superior and could instruct them in learning it and would know, in theory, if they were simply capable of it. It was too dangerous considering the very real possibility of chakra depletion and death.

But the Uchiha were known for their power. They were known for mastery of every technique they had ever witnessed. They were known for their perfection.

Sure, there was that black dot on their history known as Itachi, but Sasuke firmly believed he could correct that error and the Uchiha would be back to their heights.

At least, they would be once he felt he was ready to tell the Hokage to find the thirty most powerful kunoichi for breeding to keep the Uchiha as strong as possible if he wasn't Hokage himself, already.

Sasuke was almost sure the click of the gates echoed far more loudly than they ever had in the past. As if they knew he was a True Uchiha now and heralded him in the only way they knew how.

He quickly stepped through the gates and then closed them, ensuring no raving fangirls could enter behind him. The walls were made to keep people from scaling them. No use against a ninja, but against a fangirl who all but failed her ninja studies or never even tried, it was like an absolute defense.

Sasuke sighed as he activated his new eye and took in the sight of his ancestral home. The Sharingan copied everything, really. When it came to books or scrolls, it was like having a photographic memory. When seeing someone move, it was like his body memorized them instead of his mind, making the new ability reflexive in nature.

This sentimental side was rarely given time to come out, but Sasuke felt it was necessary. To see his true home through the eyes of an Uchiha and memorize every crack, every blade of grass and every indication of the life of the Uchiha. Especially since he didn't expect to stick around for very long. He was unsure as to when he would be getting that seal the angry, man-hating redhead was talking about, but it appeared to almost be happening soon. And he didn't expect to still be there afterwards.

The Uchiha sector was, simply put, massive. So large, in fact, that the noises from the rest of the village were nearly nonexistent, aided partly by the morning hour. Sasuke walked slowly about, gazing with one red eye at every surface and wall, taking in the splattered blood, charred walls, rusted kunai still embedded in various surfaces and the ghost-town appearance of the entire place.

Sasuke could almost feel himself surrounded by the spirits of the fallen just as every other time he came here and knew they were proud of him for achieving his first goal in the many to come.

After two hours of wandering, he found himself in front of his old home, shared by the then head of the Uchiha family. Sasuke paused at the front door and took a deep breath.

He had watched his parents get killed in this house. Several hundred times, in fact, after his older brother put him under genjutsu with their bloodline and forced him to watch as he killed their entire family, one by one. But of all the clan, he had actually witnessed his parents' murder right in front of his eyes, free of genjutsu.

And it was to that place his feet led him. He could still see the blood, now brown from age, staining the tatami mats where both of his parents were slain before his eyes. His enhanced eye could make out the outline of his mothers arm and face in the stain where she had bled out.

"Mother. Father. I've returned now that I'm a true Uchiha. My eyes aren't complete, but the hardest part is over and I'll progress as quickly as I can. Far faster than _him_," he hissed. "I know you all cry out for vengeance. I do, too. I'll kill Itachi and bring honor back to our name."

A few seconds later, as if letting his message sink in, he turned and headed towards the Head's suite. It was a room his father had always forbidden him and everyone else from entering, even his own wife. He said only a true Uchiha could enter and only the head of the household. Even Itachi had once been backhanded for trying to follow his father in as a child.

Until that moment, Sasuke had always heeded his father's orders. He was an Uchiha, but he wasn't a _true_ Uchiha. Now, however, he _was_.

The door opened with an ominous creak as Sasuke continued to use his new eye to memorize every feature, every item and every second of his walk down memory lane and this new experience.

He was rather disappointed.

The walls were lined with shelves that held dozens of scrolls and papers, his father's desk sat neat and orderly as everything had to be with an odd stone resting at the corner of the writing mat. There wasn't a single picture in the room or anything personal. It was all very boring, truth be told. Sasuke wasn't sure what he expected, but not the picture-perfect definition of an office. Well, aside from the mass amount of dust, anyway.

The only thing that seemed to stand out was his father's sword, resting on a shelf on the wall in a place of honor behind where he would sit.

It glowed.

Curious, Sasuke reached over and grabbed the sword, pulling the weapon from the sheath and staring in awe at the blade. From his normal eye, he saw shiny silver from the iron as any normal blade, but with his Sharingan, he saw chakra coursing through the blade, pooling ever so slightly to highlight imperfections that spoke to the holder.

_The greatest power and final level of the Sharingan comes from the power to kill our strongest bonds. Strength from Pain._

Sasuke's grin was predatory as he resheathed the sword and turned from the room, carrying the sword with its message back to his apartment as he thought.

His first thoughts were of his brother. Itachi's best friend had died not long before he had killed the rest of the family. Sasuke felt that played a very major part of his success. The Uchiha had always been powerful and he was never able to understand how Itachi, genius that he was, was able to kill them all. That explained much. The greatest power of the Sharingan had apparently made it almost child's play. It was always believed that Sasuke had killed his friend. Did that mean you had to kill someone who meant a lot to you? Or perhaps the one who meant the most?

Kill your friend and gain ultimate power? Sasuke could do that.

Then Sasuke realized he didn't have any friends. Not really. There were many who wanted to be, but none of those friendships he really cultivated and shared. You obviously had to care about the person you killed or just killing any random stranger would do. To that end, there was no one he could currently kill to advance his eyes further.

_'What is the strongest bond a person can have?'_ Sasuke asked himself. _'Itachi killed his best friend and that gave him the power to destroy _all_ of the other Uchiha. If a best friend could do that, what is stronger than that?'_

He thought about his problem all the way to his apartment until, passing the Yamanaka flower shop, he came upon the answer. It was, simply put, quite brilliant. A friend was one thing, but a lover was another, entirely. It would also explain why Itachi hadn't killed a woman for his strength, as he never had time for a relationship.

Or he now had another reason to hate Itachi for debasing the Uchiha name with scandal.

His fangirls were always going on about how love was supposedly the greatest thing one could ever come across, and all of the Uchiha had remained married to their spouses, which meant that it had to be most likely that they held those bonds as more important than love. Well, he didn't care one way or another about those girls right now, or their petty beliefs in love. But in the future? Well, that wouldn't matter. For now, he knew he couldn't fall in love. He had too much to do and too many goals to achieve before that came about. But how could he get that bond otherwise?

Marriage was out, no matter what. That required too many people knowing what was going on and far too many eyes. It would also be pointless, as he planned on getting the strongest ones later. And he didn't need them as wives. He only needed them to breed with.

So, why not a girl he used just as he would in the future, without the wife thing holding him down or restricting him? It would be just the same, just without a ring or vows and the like. At worst, it failed, but he learned how to handle girls, something like another form of training. At best, he got a bond even better than Itachi's, since he used a male friend as his kill.

"Good morning, Sasuke-kun! How are- Oh no! What happened to your eye!?"

Sasuke almost grunted as he normally would as he approached the other members of Team Seven, but decided he had found the perfect bond. She was a fangirl who already admitted to loving him and wanting to date him. She claimed to wanting to marry him already. And she already spent nearly every day with them. She would be the easiest female to cultivate a bond with.

Sakura would also be the easiest one to kill once he received his signal.

"Training," he grunted in response to the pink-haired girl's query. "It'll be fine."

Sakura blinked in surprise as she received an actual response and then grinned warmly. _'Take _that_ Ino! I knew I could break through his shell!'_

"What kind of training nearly gets you knifed in the eye?" Kiba asked, sensing dishonesty in his rival to Alpha.

"The effective kind," Sasuke glared at the Inuzuka as he refrained, barely, from smacking Sakura aside as she reached to gently prod his wound, hoping for some kind of bonding contact and testing how far the new limits would be for her time with him.

The Uchiha grabbed Sakura's prodding hand gently, barely refraining from adding crushing force, and held it for a few seconds, causing her to blush. "It'll be fine. It was shallow."

"Oh," Sakura said quietly, unsure of how to respond to his hand holding hers still.

Sasuke allowed himself the barest hint of a smirk before releasing the hand and turning to Kiba. "Let's spar," he said, surprising the Inuzuka. In truth, Sasuke wanted to have something to occupy himself so he didn't have to back himself into a corner of dealing with Sakura until he decided the best way to deal with the girl that was staring at him with starry eyes.

And then the best idea came to him, and as the fight commenced, he allowed his smirk to show through, both angering the Inuzuka and allowing his mind to act on working that seedling of an idea into a full-fledged plan.

Sometimes, it was truly wonderful being a genius.

xXxXxXx

Naruto awakened with a start to the sound of a high-pitched, horrified, bloodcurdling scream. He rushed out of his tent and summoned a kunai for both hands from the seals on his fingertips as Ino was getting out of her sleeping bag to join him and looked to see only one person out already.

A dozen feet from the last tent was one of the little girls on her knees, still screaming at the sight of Hyuuga Hinata laying on the ground with a bright orange practice kunai sticking out from her chest. Blood covered her clothes around the wound and trailed out of the corner of her mouth.

Naruto's heart clenched tightly in his chest for the brief moment it took in the sight. "Hinata-chan! HINATA-CHAN!" Naruto suddenly found himself at her side and fell to his knees and checked the Hyuuga's vitals before yanking out the kunai in her chest and trying to heal her in vain. She was already so stiff! She wasn't even warm anymore!

Kurenai and Anko walked up to Naruto as everyone stood a small distance away, unsure of what to do before the latter rested her hand on his shoulder. "Naruto ... stop. There's nothing you can do. She's gone."

Slowly, Naruto laid his pale-eyed goddess to the ground and turned to the dozens of eyes around them looking on in fear and horror. "Who did this? Who is going to DIE!?!"

An eruption of chakra enveloped Naruto's body as he drew on every single iota of his power to use it against the one who dared kill his mate. The force was so sudden it forced his two wide-eyed sensei to step back to maintain their balance.

They were ordered by the Hokage to spook the children so they had an idea of what being a ninja could be like, which Anko had claimed rights to immediately, and to get an idea of how teams Ten and Eight functioned using a plan of their own design. Which would have been perfect if Anko and Kurenai weren't so curious about their two time-traveling Genin.

They decided to test Naruto since Hinata deferred to him in almost every instance that didn't seem to be about their relationship or Ino's training, since the female blonde did the same to them for everything, really. The bondage escape technique they were teaching was a prime example of that.

They hadn't actually thought it could go bad. And they were wrong.

Naruto was now stalking towards the terrified Academy students with an aura cloak wrapped around him like a blue living flame that ruffled his clothes and hair violently before he his eyes narrowed and he looked back at his mate's body. In some small part of his mind, he realized she was too strong to fall like that to an Academy student.

"N-Naruto?" Ino asked, looking between Naruto and Hinata, horrified at what she saw. She flinched as his eyes darted to her with a grunt before scanning the crowd. "Please calm down. We have to-"

"Four are missing," he interrupted, counting their numbers. "Hyuuga brat and a missing tent."

"Naruto, calm down," Kurenai commanded. "There are tracks! We can calm down, focus and- SHIT!"

Naruto had looked to the ground as Kurenai spoke and finally noticed scuff marks outside of the authorized camp area and rushed to follow before he was tackled by Anko and pinned beneath her.

"You idiot! Check- Yack!" She was cut off as his cloak seemed to help him roll them over before Kurenai put her own weight over top of them both.

"There are tripwires!" Kurenai yelled, trying to get through to her Genin even as he seemed to growl beneath the two older women. Suddenly, both women were thrown aside as Naruto shoved himself up and created a dozen clones who created another hundred to trip all the traps left behind by whoever had left.

Three dozen clones were lost to bright orange kunai as the real Naruto took off with a bestial snarl. "**Hinata-chan!"** His chakra cloak receded slowly as it turned purple and his speed, strength and senses increased as Ino watched him run into the foliage.

Anko pulled herself painfully from the tree she had been blown into while Ino helped Kurenai out of a bush. "That didn't go well," she grunted.

"Where the hell did he get that kind of power?" Ino asked worriedly as she stared at the dead form of her friend. "Hinata-chan..."

"Release," Kurenai commanded as she approached Hinata's body, turning it back into a mannequin, much to Ino's shock and gasps of surprise from the gathered children. "It was part of a test, Ino. Mostly for Team Ten who kidnapped Hinata's sister. We've got to get to them before Naruto does."

"Ino, stay here and keep the kids in their tents. Don't let them run off," Anko said before she and Kurenai leapt to the branches and left the camp.

"We really fucked up, didn't we?" Anko asked rhetorically. "What do you think would have happened if we hadn't created evidence for the kids to follow?"

"I don't know," Kurenai admitted. "But right now, he's moving faster than we are."

xXxXxXx

"The brat's wakin' up," Chouji said, acting his part in this mission. He dumped her onto the ground on her butt none too gently, getting a grunt of pain from the littlest Hyuuga and stepped back so she could see them all.

At Hinata's request, and knowing she couldn't use her Byakugan for another week and a half, they kept up the illusion of being Cloud ninja so she could experience the helplessness of such a situation. Hinata wanted her to experience the reality of the world outside of the Hyuuga compound in a way where her name didn't carry weight with anyone who wanted to cause her harm.

Hinata wasn't being cruel with her request. It was to teach her little sister a much-needed lesson. The Hyuuga were not infallible. People didn't always flee in fear at their name, no matter what the Hyuuga claimed within their walls.

The girl didn't learn that lesson the last time around until the second invasion nearly a year after Naruto returned from his trip when it was only her, Hinata, Neji and two servants left after a group of Sound ninja blew up their estate. Hanabi found her abilities were almost impossible to use against someone who was faster or stronger and that anyone who fought mid to long range was impossible to fight against and win. Two months of that and the girl had taken her own life.

At the time, Hinata practically coexisted with her family and the death hadn't really hurt her. Death of someone close by had become almost commonplace by that point. It was the _way_ she died that Hinata was upset with. And that the girl, who had always criticized Hinata as weak, had used a large number of explosive notes to make it fast and painless.

To Hinata, who had worked for _years_ to grow stronger and prove everyone she wasn't worthless, it had been disgusting.

So, she wanted Hanabi to have that experience now, and hopefully grow from it. Maybe she would even be able to call her 'sister' once again.

But she wouldn't go out of her way for it.

Hinata, under the guise of a Jounin where the others were Chuunin, approached her shaking younger sister with a smirk and a saunter. "Well, well, well. The Hyuuga awakens at last."

Without realizing it, Hanabi tried to burrow her way into the tree behind her. _'Why aren't the others here already!? Why did Hinata do this!?'_ The distressed girl wailed within her mind.

"_**Hinata-chan!"**_ Hinata, blinked in confusion and looked around, wondering why she suddenly felt ... broken and angry. She could almost swear she heard...

Hinata shook her head to get back into the moment and glared at her cowering sister. "Such beautiful eyes," she said with a wistful sigh. "I can't wait until we get you to Kumo so we can pluck them out and create copies."

"Raikage-sama wishes to breed Byakugan users," the stoic one reminded.

"She doesn't need her eyes to pop out a few dozen children," the female Jounin said with a wicked smile. "Reinforce her bindings and let's go."

The larger one held the girl as she squealed and tried to squirm free while another sighed and put in another rope to hold her like a sling and they began running again to reach their rally point with Team Ten's Jounin sensei outside of the training ground.

Nearly a minute later, however, the disguised Shino stopped to look around, causing the others to follow suit.

"What is it?" The disinterested one asked.

Shino didn't answer, instead allowing a dark blur to race past them with a growl as leaves rushed in its wake, pulled by the displaced air.

"What the hell?" The large one asked, dropping Hanabi against the base of a tree so he could maneuver.

The dark blur rushed through the clearing without warning until an explosion of branches and leaves warned them of it as it captured the tiny Hyuuga with a growl and was gone before they could see what it was, leaving the wind carrying the broken debris following its path.

"Byaku- Oh no!"

The dark blue form dropped silently from the branches above them to the ground twenty paces away on all fours, showing blonde hair, elongated fangs and dark blue eyes showing bloodlust.

"I-Is that Naruto?" The larger one asked.

Shino's kikaichu warned him against fighting and told him he should run. This was something dangerous. "I suggest we-" The rest of Shino's warning to remove their illusions was cut off as the boy growled and launched himself towards them with glowing blue orbs in both hands.

Hinata released her henge and rushed forward out of the resulting smoke to get in front of the others just in time to take the assault, getting thrown back into a tree with Naruto's lips crushing her own, his left hand holding the back of her head to his and his right holding her butt so her face was level with his.

"Well...," Chouji said with a blush as he released his own henge with the others. "That's something you don't see all the time." It was actually kind of hard to take his eyes from the sight as Hinata's hands wrapped around the blonde's neck and she moaned into his mouth.

"Troublesome people. Do you think we should stop them?" Shikamaru asked his teammates.

"I think that would be foolish on our part. He was obviously quite angry and none of us would have been able to remove him from our path," Shino advised, averting his eyes as Hinata wrapped her legs around her boyfriend's waist and let out a high-pitched gasp as Naruto's teeth found something that was apparently sensitive.

"Team Ten! The mission's over! You need to- What!?" Kurenai snapped at Anko, who was yanking on her shirt. Seeing the purple-haired woman pointing behind a tree, Kurenai leaned back to look and saw Naruto and Hinata really getting into one another. Though, now his hand was disappearing into her coat and... "Hey! Cut that out or we'll take a water hose to you two!"

"Did they just totally forget other people were around?" Anko wondered aloud, blinking at the sight of Hinata's hips rolling slowly into Naruto's. It was somewhat hypnotic. "And do you hear something squeaking? Other than Hinata?"

"That would be that one," Shikamaru said, pointing to Hanabi who was desperately trying to get the two Jounins' attentions as she worm-crawled her way towards them. She was confused as hell, but didn't want to be around these people anymore and knew at least the red-eyed one from having seen her before. She was sure to help her.

"What the hell was that all about?" Naruto growled into Hinata's ear as he bit her on the collarbone, making her cry out gently in equal parts pain and pleasure. He thought he had lost her and was going to kill every one of them for being a part of her death in even the barest of ways. When he saw her, he just knew it was her and now he couldn't get enough of Hinata.

"Mm! Hokage-sama's o-orders," she mumbled just before his lips claimed hers again. His kisses were less demanding and much more passionate, now, causing her to pull him closer and sigh as he stopped kissing and just simply held her.

"And why couldn't I be a part of the plan?" He asked. "Why did I have to believe that... that you died?"

"_**Why didn't you tell me?"**_ Hinata heard in her mind.

"It was the plan I was given, Naruto-kun," Hinata whispered to answer all of the questions, holding his face in both hands. "The details aren't ours to decide on. We do as we're told." She found it odd trying to comfort him while her legs were wrapped around him and she could still feel his hands right where they had been the whole time, but it was working, and that was all that mattered.

"It was our plan," Kurenai admitted now that her Genin weren't trying to suffocate one another and she felt they would pay attention. "We were wanting to see if you would fall for a genjutsu." Not the whole truth, or even the majority of it, but better than saying they wanted to see what he'd do compared to when it was supposed to have been one of the kids that they were supposedly going to pilfer and leave evidence for. Naruto would have joined the rest of his team in walking the kids through finding evidence.

"It's over now. We don't want you to kill anyone just from a test," Anko groused, not looking like she was totally being sincere. She was actually hoping for a _little_ blood. "Hey! Stop kicking me, brat!"

Naruto and Hinata looked down to see what Anko was yelling at and saw Hanabi glaring at the older woman. Interesting time to grow her backbone. But then, that Hyuuga countenance had to come back at some point.

xXxXxXx

Ino was very curious. This wasn't an uncommon thing for her, but she was curious about her teammates and hadn't been able to ask any questions after they arrived back to camp, _with a living Hinata_ of all things, and then went back to town. Naruto and Hinata were basically in their own world until after they had left the Hokage's office.

Apparently, Team Ten didn't get what their sensei had been hoping for from their side of things. They were meant to get Hanabi without assistance, but with Asuma, Kurenai and Anko discussing their plans and what they wanted out of the deal, Team Eight's two sensei brought up wanting to test Naruto and had promised he could track them down and let them realize they needed to work to get stronger.

They hadn't anticipated Naruto taking off before he could be brought in on what happened after the two Jounin checked his reaction. Not even a single punch had been thrown, making for the whole thing something of a disappointment. Only Hinata had gotten what she wanted out of the exercise, and that was basically mental trauma for her little sister.

Well, seeing a Naruto hell bent on killing them made Team Ten realize the dead last had apparently grown by leaps and bounds, so they at least got the result they were looking for. So, while upset they failed their objective, Asuma was still happy they were willing to see where they were not making any progress and also willing to work at it.

Of course, Shikamaru mentioned the only thing different was that Asuma didn't really do much to train them. That had been a little harsh.

Now, however, Ino was hoping to ask about that strange power that Naruto had released. She knew what chakra looked like. It was bright blue and oddly pretty to look at, but Naruto's had begun to turn purple as he ran off into the trees. And that just wasn't normal.

"Hey Naruto," Ino began as they were walking down the stairs of the Hokage Tower, "you said I could ask anything and you'd either answer me or tell me why you couldn't, right?"

Blinking in confusion, Naruto nodded. "Yea. Why?"

"I was wondering, why did your chakra turn purple when you ran into the forest?"

Naruto stopped short and turned to look at Ino carefully, as did Hinata. Was she really ready for this? Were they? "If we tell you, are you willing to hear out everything?" He asked. "Some of it will be S-class secrets and stuff you can never tell anyone without my permission."

"Naruto, you can't go throwing around state secrets like that," Kurenai rebuked with a frown.

"State secrets?" Ino asked, shocked. "Is it a new bloodline or something?"

"I am exempt from the law and if we don't tell her, she's going to ask questions that could get her into trouble later. We've only been a team for a short while, but I trust her," he said, looking into Ino's bright blue eyes as if looking to find a fault in her that would prove otherwise.

"Can he trust you, Ino-chan?" Hinata asked, pulling herself closer to Naruto and holding his arm between her breasts in an attempt to impress upon the other blonde that she knew his secrets and had honored him by keeping them.

"Am I the only one who doesn't know this?" Ino asked in confusion.

"On our team, yes," Kurenai answered. "It is a major secret that usually carries the penalty of death for divulging, but Naruto is exempt from that law."

Ino looked with shocked eyes to her fellow blonde and nodded slowly. "I promise."

"This isn't a game, kid," Anko grunted as she cleaned her nails with a kunai. "If you repeat what they tell you to anyone, you _will_ be killed. Ever since the beginning, the Sandaime has upheld that law as a no tolerance policy. Once you learn, you can't unlearn it."

Ino's inner gossip was frothing at the mouth, desperately craving for this juicy information. She was sure it may be hard to keep the secret, but she had never had a friend who treated her with the kind of respect these two had. She would keep their secrets no matter what. "I understand."

Besides. This would give her an opening to asking about being taught to answer evasively since she obviously needed it.

No more words were spoken, but Naruto nodded and took off to his apartment with the others following. Hinata, because she planned on spending the day with him until nightfall anyway, and the two Jounin sensei because they felt it may be necessary to either take her to Ibiki to show her how serious this was if she took it negatively, or answer questions.

xXxXxXx

"That mission was horrible," Asuma said with a sigh as he spoke the his father once everyone had left. "Not a single punch was thrown, they didn't get Hanabi on their own, they didn't meet up at the rendezvous point and because of them, the whole class was absolutely terrified."

"Yes. I must admit that it failed to pass as a suitable test showing the students real-life situations in the field before risking them," Hiruzen said as he shared his tobacco with Asuma.

"Well, at least Naruto scared them enough to make them question training," the younger Sarutobi sighed. "And it let me know where I can take them."

"Oh? And where is that?" The Hokage asked curiously.

"I'll round them out and teach them a little of everything before I call in a few favors and get them some kenjutsu practice to eventually be a precision strike force."

The aged Hokage blinked. "May I ask how you got that out of this experience?"

"It occurred to me that we can't specialize in anything. Chouji is a short-range fighter without a single mid or long-range jutsu to his name, or technique. If he can't punch them, he loses."

"Shikamaru is the mid-range fighter with minor taijutsu abilities that are Academy-standard, and only barely passing, at that. His mind is incredible and he can come up with incredible plans, but he requires time to think. And he has nothing long distance either."

"Shino is something of a mystery, but I have enough to know he's moderate on all fields, but relies on his kikaichu bugs for almost everything. Other than his ability to track or spy with his bugs, he has nothing special as of right now in his arsenal, just like the others."

"So, in effect, they are all suited to nothing except Shino, but to have him specialize in that would be pointless since he won't be going anywhere alone this early in his career."

"And where does kenjutsu come into play?" The ancient Hokage asked.

"Experience, mostly," Asuma admitted. "Other than Maito Gai's team, none of the current Genin could take on a kenjutsu user effectively. So, I'm going to teach mine a bit on that and maybe get them one of their own weapons to use in that kind of instance and teach them as much of the basics on everything else to give them a wide spectrum of knowledge. Then, if they want to try something I can't help them with, help them find someone who can to get what they can."

Hiruzen exhaled smoke from his mouth and nose in a sigh. "Asuma, that is basically what you are _supposed_ to do," the old man deadpanned.

Asuma had the grace to blush. "I'm talking the basics of literally everything I can think of, Dad. If I think it, they are going to learn it." Asuma shifted nervously. "In that vein, I was hoping to make another request?"

_'It didn't work out too well last time,'_ the Hokage thought, wondering if his time-traveling Genin hadn't understated his son's lackluster abilities as a Jounin sensei. "What is that?"

"Can I get permission to take my team into the Pits of Despair?"

xXxXxXx

Arriving at Naruto's apartment, he unlocked his door and deactivated the security seals he had placed there, just in case. You could never really tell when a drunk would try something, regardless of the strong penalties for doing so.

"This is your place?" Ino asked as she entered Naruto's home. "It's nice ... Except for those," she said, pointing with a blush at a pair of Hinata's panties that were on the corner of the couch.

"So that's where those were! I was wondering why I wasn't wearing any today," Hinata mumbled to herself, looking to Ino after a second and seeing the girl's wide eyes and gaping mouth. "Just kidding!" The Hyuuga said with a giggle. As if to prove her point, she pulled up the band of her panties from her waist to show Ino, who still didn't look convinced.

"Hinata-chan, don't tease Ino right before a serious conversation," Naruto chided, though his smirk belied his own amusement.

"Fine," Hinata said with a pout as she pushed Naruto onto his couch, not so subtly tucking her panties into a pocket, and then sitting against his side in an overly obvious sign of affection, "but I get to tease her about something tomorrow."

Anko and Kurenai, both of which were far more used to horrible situations out in the field immediately recognized what Hinata was doing. By showing such an obvious affection with Naruto, it showed that she was unconcerned with what Ino was about to learn in an attempt to reinforce that the blonde-haired girl shouldn't be upset by it, and by promising to tease her the next day, reinforcing that everything would be the same and she expected the Yamanaka would be okay with it.

It was also common to simply joke and tease just before things got serious or the shit hit the fan in a mission, too, but neither Jounin spent too much time thinking along those lines.

So, both Jounin stood against the wall closest to Naruto's door and did their best to look like they were just there for the conversation and not to catch Ino in case she tried to run with a scream or yelling what she was about to find out.

"Ino-chan," Naruto began, losing the joking aura and adopting something much more serious. "We have two very large secrets to tell you-"

"Two?" Kurenai asked with a hint of worry a breath ahead of Anko. Hinata frowned in confusion and a touch of worry, but knew to follow Naruto's lead. He was the alpha and the one in charge and she had nothing to add that he had to hear.

"Yes, 'two'," Naruto said forcefully, darting his eyes to his sensei and back to Ino. "Now, Ino-chan, what you have to understand is that both of these secrets are considered S-class, classified state secrets that _will_ have you executed for treason if you tell them to anyone. And I mean that. Right now, the four of us," he said, indicated the two Jounin, Hinata and himself, "and the Hokage are the only ones who know the second one and other than you, that is how we want to keep it for as long as possible. Do you think you can keep these secrets? Do you think you're able to know these things and never tell anyone without permission first? Remember that if you can't, the _only_ penalty will be execution for high treason."

"I'm ready," Ino said firmly with a resolute nod after roughly ten seconds of thinking. Whatever they had to tell her, it was obviously big! "I know how to keep secrets," she said with a glance at Hinata. _'Just to be sure, though, I am _definitely _asking Anko for some help with evasive answers,'_ she thought to herself. While she had been able to keep from telling Sakura she had seen Naruto's penis because Hinata was playing with it, she had still told the pink-haired girl about it, which was more than she had intended in the first place.

"Ino-chan, I know we've only been on a team for not quite a month, but Hinata-chan and I know you far better than you can possibly believe. That's why we like having you on our team so much, why we promised we'd answer anything you ever asked us and why we're upholding that promise now," Naruto said, a little more warmly than when he started.

"I don't understand," Ino said with a frown. "We weren't exactly friends in the Academy."

"No, we weren't," Naruto agreed. "But that has to do with our two secrets. The first is one that is known to about three-quarters of the adult population and all Chuunin and above in Konoha. On the night of the Kyuubi attack, the Yondaime wasn't actually able to kill the Kyuubi. He-"

"What!? But we were told that-"

"And it was a lie," Naruto cut the other blonde off to continue, giving her a moment to look to her two grim-faced Jounin sensei to get confirmation. "It was a lie to protect me."

"You?" Ino asked, bewildered. "Why?"

"The Kyuubi was far too powerful to kill. So, the Yondaime sealed it into a container to protect Konoha. But, the Kyuubi was far too powerful to be put into something simple like a non-living container or an animal. It had to be something far more complex. So, he chose one of the babies born during its attack," Naruto admitted, looking down to Ino's feet so he wouldn't have to see her face. By the time she found this out before their journey in time, she had already been in several life-or-death situation with Naruto where they covered each others' backs and that kind of trust was able to provide a strong foundation. This Ino, however, didn't have that level of trust or history with him.

He was infinitely thankful when Hinata let go of his arm to hug him fully and kiss his neck gently. Friend, girlfriend or mate, it didn't matter. It was a purely loving gesture that meant everything to him.

"You?" Ino gasped. "Why? Why didn't he do it to himself?"

"The Kyuubi would have overloaded an adult's chakra system," Naruto explained. "By putting it into a baby, the chakra coils would develop so that it contained the chakra of the fox and wouldn't burst. Basically, it's like putting too much air into a balloon and it popping. Instead of that, we took the same air, or chakra in this case, and then built the balloon around it. It's just like that."

Naruto stood slowly and took off his shirt in a fluid motion and channeled some chakra to make the seal visible on his stomach. "That's what that is. It allows me to use the fox's chakra when I'm either out or in serious trouble and need more than I have myself.

"So, the Kyuubi's in that seal?" Ino asked, looking at the black lines carefully and in a rather strange calm.

"Yes. The seal is just like a sealing scroll, only far more complex. When I sealed your travel pack going to Kensei, it was the same concept. The major difference is that the Yondaime had to summon the Shinigami to pull the fox into me. The Shinigami did so, but it had to be paid and, unfortunately, the price to do so was his life."

Naruto didn't think it was worth telling the shocked girl that it was actually the right to feast on his soul in an eternity of combat within the Shinigami's stomach that actually awaited the Yondaime. Hell, even _he_ didn't like knowing that.

"So that power you used was the Kyuubi's?" Ino asked, finally tearing her eyes from the seal.

"Yes and no. It was partly, but it was power I took from the fox. It's more complicated, but that's the best way I can think to describe it right now," Naruto said.

"Is that why my mom told me not to be friends with you?" Ino asked after a moment, not looking at anyone and looking somewhat ashamed to be admitting that fact.

"Most likely," Naruto acknowledged.

"Naruto-kun was banned from a lot of shops and most restaurants because the people inside weren't always willing to be quiet when he was around and it was easier to keep out one person than many," Hinata added.

"To be fair, a lot of that happened because the ones I kept going in to who would let me tended to get broken into during the night and I didn't want to keep causing them trouble, so I just stopped going to most places," Naruto admitted.

"There were times when I was beaten because of this, but it was almost always people who were drunk or just stupid villagers, but that isn't accepted at any time, and they were either heavily fined or, if they actually hurt me seriously, then they were executed, just as they would do for any other kid, and most villagers didn't want to have to put up with that."

"It was always the worst during the festival celebrating the Kyuubi's defeat," Anko spoke up into the silence, sounding and looking as though she were remembering something far off. "The first time you went out when you were old enough to run around on your own, a mob formed to try and 'finish the job'. From that point forward, you always had an ANBU guard or Jounin minder to ... _discourage_ just that sort of behavior."

"I know," Naruto said sadly. "When I realized that, I stopped going. But that was the worst of it. Other than that, I had a lot of people kicking me out of class at the Academy or keeping me isolated in public. I also turned out to be under a lot of genjutsu during tests when they learned I was especially susceptible to them."

"But that isn't the case any longer," Hinata said, giving Naruto a kiss on his cheek.

"No, it isn't," Naruto said with a very warm smile as he looked around. "I've got people who care for me and that I care for now," he continued, looking at each of the girls around him in the eyes. "Two sensei that I respect and are fair and willing to help, teammates I know I can trust and even Iruka-sensei and Ayame-nee-san and old man Teuchi at the ramen stand. It's slow going, but I'm getting people in my life I care for."

"Do you get any special abilities because of the Kyuubi?" Ino asked after a moment of embarrassment. _'Aw man! There's no way I could tell anyone now! I'd feel horrible!'_

"Increased stamina," Hinata said immediately with a giggle that sounded suspiciously like a perverted Sannin.

"Er, yes," Naruto said with a blush as he heard Anko snort and Kurenai sigh. "I absorb the Kyuubi's power over time, so constantly getting that chakra to increase my own means I have a lot of energy. I also heal quickly and have large chakra stores. That's about it for having her in me."

"So, how does that mean you know me?" Ino asked. She found herself a little curious that she wasn't totally freaking out right then. But, seeing everyone around her acting so casual, maybe even somewhat frisky in Hinata's case, and having been examining her feelings regarding her teammates so thoroughly in the past few weeks had her actually ... _okay_ with this information. It explained questions she had about his power and _definitely_ his stamina, but he was still Naruto. Just like he said, the fox was in the seal just like her travel pack.

"This one ... may be a little hard to believe," Hinata said for her mate, rubbing his upper arm gently.

"'_That_' one may be hard to believe!?" Ino asked with a snort. "You tell me Naruto's got a big-ass demon fox squished in his belly and you think I'll have trouble believing this one?"

"Yes," Naruto and Hinata said together without a hint of a smile.

"Oh," Ino said quietly, slumping into her chair. That kind of took the wind out of her sails. _'So much for levity.'_

"I'm sorry, but I've got to ask, are you sure about this one?" Kurenai asked, looking almost pleading. She knew these were their secrets to tell and with whom they could bring in, but really, Ino was a fresh Genin by _all_ counts and was a well-known gossip hound! "S-class secrets have that ranking for a reason and, Ino I'm sorry, but you aren't known for keeping secrets."

Naruto gave the red-eyed woman time to finish, idly noting how Ino deflated at the apparent lack of trust from her sensei. "Kurenai-sensei, this _is_ our secret to tell and _our_ decision on who we bring in. We had to learn the hard way that some secrets, especially when you _know_ there are secrets, can't exist in a team if you want it to function. We rely on each other to watch our backs and if we have any distrust amongst us, it could lead to disaster. I _did_ learn this the hard way. I won't repeat that mistake again."

Kurenai stared at her Genin for a moment before nodding and backing up against the wall one more time, accepting Anko's consoling hand on her shoulder for what it was meant to represent: understanding. The snake-Jounin didn't know if it was right either, but knew it wasn't up to them.

That, and Anko was reminded of Naruto's introduction on top of the Academy and trying to figure out why it suddenly seemed important or she would have been voicing her own thoughts as well.

Ino looked to her teammates, suddenly feeling an intense desire to not let them down. They _trusted_ her! Even her sensei didn't believe they could do that! They just proved it. Naruto had already told her what she would honestly claim as the most impressive secret she could possibly imagine. She refused to let this information do anything but make her a better friend and teammate to them. She would _not_ betray them! If it cost her her life, Ino would protect their secrets!

"Ino-chan, Hinata-chan and I came back in time a touch over seven years into our younger bodies using the Kyuubi's power."

"That ... isn't what I would have expected," Ino deadpanned. She wasn't sure if she should be impressed, confused or disbelieving.

Naruto and Hinata laughed before Hinata recovered first saying, "it is pretty strange, we know. But that's why we say we know you. You were our teammate on a pretty regular basis for about four years to us. We had become really good friends and we know how incredible you will become."

Naruto grinned fiendishly at Ino's blush and small grin. "You were my best friend other than Hinata-chan, here."

"Me?" Ino asked incredulously before her eyes widened as things clicked into place. "So _that's_ why you were both suddenly different that last month in the Academy!"

"Yup," Naruto said happily. "We changed a few things so we could prepare for the future better."

Ino's eyebrows drew together in thought. "So, why did you come back?"

Hinata and Naruto looked guiltily at each other before turning to Ino without even the barest hint of a smile. "War," Hinata said glumly.

"We can't tell you much yet, but a lot of people had died and we were basically at what would be the last battle before we realized we just weren't going to be able to win and then the Kyuubi offered an alternative."

The time-traveling duo continued on, telling Ino and their Jounin sensei of the original teams and very small details about their future and people like Jiraiya and Tsunade that had made the biggest impact on their lives, along with how both Naruto and Hinata and trained under them, respectively.

Ino had been impressed after asking their sensei to ensure the whole thing wasn't some weird prank.

"That reminds me," Hinata said once their conversation was winding down. "I think I'm going to grow my hair out long again. It's easier to handle short like this, but there's just something sexier about long hair. Don't you agree, Ino-chan?" The bluenette asked, stroking her fingers through Ino's golden ponytail, making her blush at the fully intended suggestion in the comment.

"I think you're gorgeous," Naruto said brightly. "But I definitely think I enjoy long hair."

Ino's blush intensified.

Hinata allowed the smallest smirk to grace her lips as she settled against Naruto until Kurenai threw her hands up. "Oh for the love of Kami! Behave yourselves!" She snapped as she left Naruto's home with a grinning Anko in tow.

Anko knew what that light blush upon her lover's cheeks meant!

"And remember not to tell anyone about any of this, Ino," Kurenai remarked as she was leaving, waiting only long enough to get an affirmative from the girl.

"I should probably get going, too," Ino said, looking outside to see it was nearly the middle of the day. "G'bye you two. And I promise not to tell anyone."

"Thank you, Ino-chan," Naruto said with a smile. He watched the blonde girl leave with his smile still in place and Hinata under his right arm until the door closed and Hinata shoved him onto his back on the couch. "Hinata-chan, what-?"

"I know I was under orders, Naruto-kun," Hinata said as she laid down on top of him and kissed him on his lips firmly, "but I should have refused to let you believe I was really dead. I should have known you wouldn't react rationally to it and told them as much."

Naruto clutched Hinata to him in an almost crushing embrace as he was forced to relive that sudden spike of fear and anger from that moment. "Don't _ever_ do that to me again, Tenshi-chan," he ordered.

"I won't," Hinata promised, raising to sit on her knees as she straddled his waist and began to unzip her beige jacket and let it slide off of her shoulders. "But I don't think you should call me an 'angel', anymore."

Naruto let out a whoosh of air as he managed to tear his gaze away from her chest. "Why not? I thought you loved that."

"I did," she said, lifting her shirt over her head and tossing it aside as she reached to unclasp her bra. "But now, after merging with the Kyuubi, I think I should be your little vixen."

Naruto's breath left him as her bra slipped from her shoulders and onto his stomach, revealing milky-white breasts and bright pink nipples already stiff and puckered in arousal. "My little vixen," he tested in a half growl. "I like it."

[Lemon Start]

Before she could tell him she was glad, she screamed out a keening wail as his mouth attaching itself to her left nipple and sucked hard as his left hand found her other and rolled it almost painfully between what were now skillful fingers. "Naruto-kun! AH!" She cried out in pleasure as his teeth lightly squeezed on her nipple and pulled back, letting it slide through almost immediately.

"My little vixen was a bad girl, wasn't she?" Naruto asked as he lifted himself into a sitting position and held her to his chest as he attacked her collarbone with furious nibbles as she tilted her head back with a gasp.

"Yes, Naruto-kun!" Hinata agreed, rolling her hips in an attempt to sooth the longing ache developing where they were joined with only their pants keeping them from their union. "I – Ah! Punish me, Naruto-kun!"

Somewhere between Hinata's unreal murder and that point where Hinata called herself his 'little vixen', there had been a shift between the two. Naruto had been content to let her lead their progress and take only what she was willing to give at any given time. But when he learned she wasn't truly dead, but had willingly acted to fool him, a need to dominate and correct her actions welled within him that was an expectation she was asking for now in between panting, moaning and keening wails.

Naruto was a creature that had always followed his instincts.

He pushed her backwards onto her back on the couch and grabbed her pants at the waist and tore them down, hearing the stitching voice its disapproval as they were removed in one fluid motion, leaving only the panting Hinata on the cushions, bared to his scrutiny and looking completely unashamed. Naruto stared into her eyes as he removed his shirt and felt her hands helping with his pants.

"N-Naruto-kun," Hinata whispered excitedly as he stood in front of her and allowed her to look at his throbbing arousal only inches from her face. As she reached to touch him, however, he moved backwards just enough to avoid her hand and then sat on the couch with his legs apart.

Hinata didn't ask what he wanted and he didn't tell her. She simply got onto her hands and knees on the floor in front of him and took her first taste of him, licking him from the base of his erection to its head and then bobbing her head down, taking him into her mouth and applying suction.

"Oh, Hinata-chan," Naruto moaned out, letting his head fall back as far as he could without taking his eyes off of the sight of Hinata's beautiful lips sliding up and down his glistening shaft. "That feels incredible!"

"Mmm," she hummed in gratitude of his praise, getting a twitchy pulse as the vibrations hit his member. Hinata bobbed up and down as she enjoyed her first time taking her lover into her, even if it wasn't where she was hoping for. She had dreamt of this for years and found the experience to be far better than she had ever dreamed.

Her Naruto-kun, her mate, was beneath her and moaning her name as she gave him pleasure. She relished in the feel of his rock hard erection under her tongue and how he never failed to jerk and his breath hitch when she swirled her tongue around the head of his dick.

"Don't ignore yourself, my vixen," Naruto growled out with a grin, staring into her eyes as she looked up at him. "I want to see you touch yourself."

Hinata squeaked as a tremor of pleasure spiked within her as he commanded her. Her hand immediately found its home in her soaking folds and she began to rub herself furiously with her right hand as her left stroked his dick that she couldn't yet take into her mouth.

Naruto watched as Hinata closed her eyes as her own pleasure ran through her in waves. Her rounded ass cheeks swayed hypnotically as she unconsciously moved with her hand, rocking her entire body back and forth with her hand and head as she bobbed on his erection. It was truly a wonderful sight to behold!

He could feel her pleasure; knew where it went through her body and how it affected her. He didn't know how he knew, or even realized it right at that moment. He simply knew that she was also able to feel his, but he couldn't stop the moans of pleasure caused by her lips, tongue or hearing her as she slurped and sucked his cock. "Ng! Hinata-chan! So good!"

Hinata moaned a squeaky sound of acknowledgement, too enraptured by her own nearing orgasm to do much else. But she wanted to see him and every single one of his reactions. Keeping her eyes open was far too much work for the girl, so she channeled a little chakra to her eyes and took in the world around her before ready to focus on Naruto when she saw they had another observer.

Ino was once again spying on them!

She had caught sight of them as she was walking out of Naruto's door and when passing the window, had seen Hinata on top of Naruto and was wondering if they ever got enough of each other when she saw Hinata rise and begin shedding her clothes. From there, she was just caught up in what she was witnessing to catch herself and leave the two in peace.

Hinata had already said they needed to be more familiar with the others and didn't have any problems with what she had witnessed already. That tacit approval for what she already saw kept Ino from feeling like she was in the wrong. Though, she also wasn't thinking. She was simply watching and finding it harder and harder to remove her eyes, getting a complete side-view of everything the two were doing.

For the first time since she began, Hinata allowed Naruto's dick to leave her lips with a wet pop and continued to stroke him so he wasn't totally without enjoyment. "Naruto-kun, Ino-chan-" lick "-caught what we're doing." Lick. "She's watching right now. Do you want to put on a show for her?" She immediately took him back into her mouth and bobbed her head quickly to make up for lost time, causing most of what Naruto heard to leave his mind.

"If she wants to watch, fine, just don't stop!" He ordered, far too gone to really care at that point. He was so close to the edge! And the moment he gave his okay with it, he felt Hinata's own arousal spike ever closer to her own elusive orgasm.

_'If she wants a show,'_ Hinata thought, _'then we can give her one.'_ Hinata began rocking her entire body back and forth and letting out high-pitched wails with each thrust forward when she took Naruto's arousal into her mouth. Then, she took the hand that had been pleasuring herself and cupped it, getting as much of her own fluids into it before bringing it to her mate's dick and using it as lubrication for both hands to stroke him fast and hard, her breasts bouncing furiously as she pumped him to completion.

"Fuck Hinata-chan!" Naruto screamed out, erupting onto Hinata's face with two powerful releases before Hinata opened her mouth to catch a third and fourth and then lowered herself to bob happily up and down, relishing in the taste of herself on him and the future it represented as she swallowed several more releases.

Hinata slowed her movements as she felt Naruto soften slightly in her mouth, trying to milk any more of his salty cum from him or getting him hard again for another go, whichever came first.

"On the couch," Naruto ordered, watching Hinata look up quizzically at him from between his legs with his fresh erection half in her mouth before she nodded, with him still in her, before she let it out with slow pull of her head and a deliberate pop and licked her lips with a saucy grin. She was very pleased with herself.

As Hinata sat, she watched in glee as he knelt before her and put a leg over either shoulder and looked her in the eyes with a prankster grin on his face. "I assume this is why you've been having me do that training with Ino-chan?" He asked quietly, kissing the inside of her thighs, slowly inching his way towards her soaking core.

"I didn't think you noticed," Hinata answered just as quietly with a nod while she used her fingers to wipe his cum from her face and licked them clean. "I know you liked her before we got together and that those feelings could come back, especially being on the same- Oh!" She was cut off as his tongue swiped her swollen lips. "Team! Fuck it! Talk later, orgasms now!"

Naruto licked slowly and methodically from as low as he could reach, making Hinata mewl in a mix of surprise, shock and pleasure as he cleaned up the fluids that had been so frivolously wasted in running down the crack of her ass until she was finally only coated in his own saliva before he began to kiss either side of her wet folds.

"Sh-she just left, Naruto-kun," Hinata told him through closed eyes even as she writhed beneath him. "She began to touch herself and jerked, then looked around and left."

"Orgasm?" He asked in a muffled voice as he began to lick his way into her, snaking his tongue in and out, making her twitch and moan before she shrieked as he found the little nub that she had been so happy about when he touched her for the first time in the training field.

"N-no!" Hinata screamed as Naruto sucked gently on her clit.

Talking was over as Hinata lost herself to the pleasures of a wet, wriggling tongue that was _so much better_ than her hand could ever hope to be!

Naruto was only just beginning to realize that he could feel Hinata's own pleasure when he was following what he thought were his instincts as his attention rarely strayed from Hinata's clit and the area just above it by an inch where he realized it wasn't quite as intense, but also didn't hurt as much as constant attention to the nub would cause her.

But his attention was so much on making Hinata happy that he didn't pay it any attention and simply thanked whatever it was for helping him give Hinata the same pleasure she had given him.

"N-Naruto-kun!" Hinata gasped as she shuddered as she felt his tongue flick over her clit and his hands rise to cup her breasts, rolling her nipples between positively delightful fingers a moment later. "Suck my clit! I'm about to cum!" Her only regret was getting herself so far along before Naruto returned the favor as she came viciously hard, squeezing Naruto's head between her powerful thighs and fisting his hair in her hands. Her head was tilted back and her mouth wide open in a silent scream while her entire body shook, even as Naruto continued to suck on her clit as ordered, prolonging the sensation of what could be nothing more than an explosion, if she were later asked to describe it.

Hinata finally fell flat into the cushions of the couch, panting because she had not taken a breath in nearly a minute as Naruto looked up with a self-satisfied grin from between her legs, the lower half of his face shining brightly from her orgasm.

Then she twitched as aftershocks glided through her body.

[Lemon End]

"N-Naruto-kun," Hinata panted, "that was incredible." She sighed contentedly as he sat beside her and used his shirt to wipe his face off before holding her close and stroking her hair as she continued to twitch for another few minutes. She had _never_ been able to give herself something that powerful before! And somehow, she knew she never would.

"You deserved it for what you did for me," Naruto said, kissing her gently on the lips.

"When I pushed you down, I planned on just having sex with you. But I'm still satisfied," Hinata said, holding Naruto's face close so she could show him her smile as if proving it. "For now," she amended.

Naruto smiled. "I dunno what came over me," he admitted. "Suddenly, I just had to do that..."

"I know," Hinata soothed. "I felt it, too. I think it was something with the Kyuubi. I was expecting you to take me in the woods, to be honest. And the whole time up to that point, all I could think of was how you weren't ....," she paused, frowning as she tried to think of the proper word or action.

"Dominating you," Naruto said quietly. "I felt like I had to ... put you in your place, as bad as that sounds."

"No," Hinata said thoughtfully. "That actually sounds about just right. It was like I shouldn't do something without your permission first when it's something serious like that and had to be reminded that ... you are my alpha." She blinked as the term came from her mouth. It sounded so ... _right_. She had used it while speaking with Kurenai and Anko, but it hadn't had the same impact on her as the thrill that went through her as she said it right then.

Naruto frowned in thought, but agreed with a humming tone in the back of his throat. "About Ino-chan," he began. "Why are you pushing her like that? You said I liked her in the future, but I'm with you now."

Hinata blushed as she created a clone to set up a curtain for Naruto's window before she answered, partly so they could keep lounging without worrying about passing people and partly so he would watch her clone's naked body as she set it up, making sure to jiggle certain assets to keep his attention in hopes of getting him aroused again.

"I'm still surprised you caught that," she admitted.

"I probably wouldn't have if you hadn't all but told both of our sensei that you already planned on additional women," he told her, staring at her clone's shapely backside, but not nearly as enthralled as she had wanted him to get while something more important was on his mind. "It wasn't too hard to see your plan, although I don't understand why. Is there anything you want to tell me you haven't?" He asked, offering to let her choose what she did or did not tell him of her conversations with Ino or anything other than her own nefarious plots with his love life.

"Do you know why I'm so negative regarding Sakura?" She asked as a prelude.

"Yea. You said you didn't like the idea that I might redevelop feelings for her and ignore you, but you knew that wouldn't happen after we came back and I was the same with you," he replied, smiling slightly as Hinata's clone refused to leave and instead burrowed itself under his other arm, leaving him with two cuddly Hinata's under both. _'Dear Kami I love this woman,'_ he thought to himself.

"Exactly," Hinata said with a nod as she and her clone smiled at each other. "Before her death, I had decided to try and share you with her if I couldn't find a way to get you to myself. To be honest, I became almost sure I would have no choice but to go that route and share you with her, which then turned into sharing you with Ino when you began to spend so much time with her and got so close."

"But that was because I was one of the only guys she could hang out with that she didn't want to hang out with any of the girls other than Anko because they ridiculed her for ... well, becoming more like Anko," he finished weakly, realizing the two were together far sooner than in the previous timeline and Ino was once again looking at the woman with stars in her eyes. Anko had spent quite a bit of time teaching Ino some of her more sadistic methods of killing and turned out to be the only woman who treated her normally until her death.

"While you appeared oblivious to it, she had begun trying to get your attentions and we had already spoken about what we would do if you chose one of us."

"What?" Naruto asked in shock. "Then what happened when we began dating? I mean, she hugged me and said it was 'about damn time' I figured it out."

"I promised I wouldn't try to break you apart because I already thought you were going to get together," Hinata admitted as both she and her clone squeezed his arms. "She laughed at me and said there was no way she would let me just give up and is the whole reason I pursued you in the first place, even before that mission with the Hyoton user."

"You mean she's the reason we got together?" Naruto asked in confusion.

"Pretty much," Hinata admitted. "She told me she wouldn't try to get together with you unless I tried first because she didn't want me to lose something that was so important to me."

"That's why she invited us to so many things together and then flaked out on us," he said in realization. "I thought she was telling the truth when she said she was learning more about poisons and torture with Anko!" He exclaimed, sounding somewhat affronted to having been tricked. Anko was a slave driver and did not take well to having her time wasted. Having an appointment with her was tantamount to being in a life or death situation.

Hinata giggled. "I did at first, too, until it kept happening."

Naruto leaned back and hugged both Hinata's to him, letting them clasp his hands in theirs and hold them to their chests. "So you're bringing her into this because you feel like you owe her?"

"That is a large reason," Hinata agreed.

"But?" Naruto asked, recognizing her answer as only a partial one.

Hinata had the grace to blush. "If she joins us, then we don't have to be discrete in the tent on missions." She pointedly looked at Naruto's penis, still erect from when she took her enjoyment of him earlier after his climax.

"You wanted to have Ino-chan join us so we can get naughty?" Naruto asked with wide eyes. "I don't know which part to focus on; Ino joining us or the fact that you've practically been planning on how we can get frisky on missions since the team was formed."

Ignoring his curiousity, Hinata continued, "Ino-chan also saw us when we had our first time masturbating each other in the field. This would be the second time I'm aware of that she's watched us."

"Do you really want this?" Naruto asked his mate, not sure how to continue. "I've always kind of figured it was you and me. I won't lie and say the idea of both of you isn't interesting, especially with how comfortable this is," he said, squeezing both Hinata's and kissing them on the foreheads, "but I have no problems with keeping Ino-chan a good friend and keeping you."

Both Hinata's smiled warmly and sighed in contentment. There was just something _so_ comforting in knowing your man was literally being offered two women and was offering to have nothing to do with the concept. "I _want_ this, Naruto-kun. I know you care for her and I know how great of a friend she can become. Hell, she's nearly as close to us as she was in the future. I _want_ to share you with her because I know you care for both of us and I wouldn't have had you if she hadn't wanted me to have the chance. I want to repay that kindness, Naruto-kun."

"And," she hesitated with a bright blush as Naruto and her clone looked at her, "I want to watch." Her clone blushed furiously as the real Hinata admitted one of her fantasies. They were identical in all aspects, but once created, the clones thought on their own and had been just as surprised as Naruto was by the admission.

Naruto took a deep breath before nodding. "We don't have anything that says Ino-chan is _going_ to join," Naruto said carefully as he thought, "but if you really want this, then I'm willing to give it a shot. Just promise me this isn't some kind of boyfriend test?" He pled with a wane smile.

Hinata smirked in a way that he was not totally familiar with as her clone suddenly descended onto his erection again, moaning as Naruto jerked in surprise. "I want to give her the chance she gave me, Naruto-kun," Hinata growled out, kissing him hard before pulling back. "I'll even give you a sample of what it may be like."

Grin still in place, she and her clone fell to their knees before him and both began to lick his shaft in tandem, making him go cross-eyed.

xXxXxXx

**[A/N:]** - Next chapter! "The Safety Word is Banana!" Team Eight learns interrogation techniques.

"Alright, kiddos!" Anko beamed at her team. "Time to learn something new!"

"Um, Anko-sensei?" Ino asked hesitantly. "What's the rusty sardine can for?"

The Snake-Jounin blinked owlishly. "Incentive."


	10. The Safety Word is Banana

**Title:** Reforging The Past

**Chapter10 – **The Safety Word is Banana

**Ship:** Naruto/Hina, Naru/Harem, Naru/Hina/Ino/FemHaku/FemKyuu, Anko/Kurenai

**Warnings:** Nudity, Oral Sex, Masturbation, Torture, Mild Yuri

**Author:** Paladeus

**Key:** "Speech", **"Demonic Speech"**, _'Thought'_, _**'Demonic Thought'**_

xXxXxXx

**[A/N:]** Here's the rest of the last chapter, plus what I had planned for this one except for one arc. I had to cut this in half again because it was nearing 40K words and I've been told, repeatedly, that's too long. **Remember: If you want to skip the naughty stuff, search for "[Lemon End]" without the quotes**. This story is MEANT to have lots of sex and naughty innuendo. It's a little heavy in this chapter because of some of the darker stuff in it as well.

**Naruto's girls**, no matter what is hinted at, will never sleep with someone other than him! Parts of this story will hint at that, and I want it cleared up early.

**WARNING! This chapter has a scene of torture in it! Like my lemons, this will be labeled. Search for "[Torture Start]" and "[Torture End]" if you do not want to read it. **This DOES have a reason for existing. Torture is known to not work reliably in the real world. This explains why it works in the Naruto universe and how it was used in the past. **It isn't horrible, but they do inflict pain. It's no worse than a fight, except that the target can't fight back. Plus, I would recommend reading it, anyway.**

**Recommended Story of the Chapter:** "N" by VFSNAKE (Naru/Hina**)**

**xXx** – Previously – **xXx**

"_Do you really want this?" Naruto asked his mate, not sure how to continue. "I've always kind of figured it was you and me. I won't lie and say the idea of both of you isn't interesting, especially with how comfortable this is," he said, squeezing both Hinata's and kissing them on the foreheads, "but I have no problems with keeping Ino-chan a good friend and keeping you."_

_Both Hinata's smiled warmly and sighed in contentment. There was just something so comforting in knowing your man was literally being offered two women and was offering to have nothing to do with the concept. "I _want_ this, Naruto-kun. I know you care for her and I know how great of a friend she can become. Hell, she's nearly as close to us as she was in the future. I _want_ to share you with her because I know you care for both of us and I wouldn't have had you if she hadn't wanted me to have the chance. I want to repay that kindness, Naruto-kun."_

**xXx** – STORY – **xXx**

Ino still felt extremely warm, flustered and excited as she left Naruto's apartment and ran to the market section of Konoha. She began to wander while taking time to cool down and think. What she had just witnessed Naruto and Hinata doing, while not completely surprising in content, had just shocked her into stopping as she watched Hinata begin to please Naruto with her mouth.

Never in her life had Ino felt so turned on by something! And it wasn't just the stuff they were doing, but how they looked while doing it that affected her so much. They truly cared for and loved one another. That was as obvious as it was that they were strong people. But they were earnest in that love, which wasn't something she thought could really exist in someone that was as young as herself, even if only in body, it seemed.

Ino saw that kind of emotion reflected in the eyes of people like the parents of Chouji, Shikamaru and herself sometimes, and it was ... profound, really.

Not that she wasn't imagining herself in Hinata's place for a moment there, which was when she realized where her thoughts were leading and she bolted. Imagining herself sitting on the couch with Naruto's grinning face descending upon her most intimate of areas just to please her was not exactly the horrifying concept it may have once been, but the idea of _wanting_ it to happen spooked her. In that brief moment, Ino had _wanted_ Naruto to look at her the way he looked at Hinata; to have someone _want_ her so _thoroughly_ that you could feel it from just a look. She _wanted_ to make him as happy as Hinata had done.

And it scared her a little that she was okay with that idea. They were all only _thirteen_! She had only truly known them and been on their team for a month! Hell, she was pursuing Sasuke's love only two months ago! Now, her thoughts and dreams had a tendency to centering on blonde hair and blue eyes, and it wasn't just her own.

And then there was all of this information on Naruto having the demon fox, Kyuubi, stuffed behind his bellybutton. And using that fox to go _back in time_! Even before joining his team, she figured something that abnormal would only ever be able to happen to Naruto, but _come on_! _Time travel_!

_'I guess that means they're more like adults in kids' bodies,'_ she mused, thinking of how Hinata's ass swayed while working Naruto's erection in her mouth and the moans the bluenette girl was emitting. There was a pleasant warmth that centered around Ino's core and caused her breathing to come a little faster as she remembered it all. _'But damn me if it isn't a little intimidating to know what they do and that we have some kind of history with each other and not know any of it.'_

Ino shivered in memory of the pleasure Naruto's hands gave her during her chakra training. _'I wonder if they did that before,'_ she thought, wondering at how well he knew how to touch her. What she didn't consider, as she had no way of comparing it, was that Naruto really didn't know what he was doing, nor did he attempt anything special. She just had so little experience in such matters that his touch was as electrifying as it was hypnotic and addictive. _'Maybe I should ask Hinata-chan later.'_

Interestingly enough, she was so dead-set on protecting their secrets so their faith in her, unlike certain Jounin sensei who didn't appear all that trusting, would not be ruined that she did not even have to wonder about Naruto's being a Jinchuuriki and how she felt about that. Her decision was set and Ino would be firm in that. She knew who Naruto was and she would not show herself to be any less than they obviously thought of her as. She would live up to their expectations because they were the first to have high ones of her. She _wanted_ to be worthy of their faith and trust in her so deeply, that it was amazingly simple to accept and dismiss Naruto's demon-container status.

She wanted Naruto and Hinata to be proud of her.

xXxXxXx

"Are you sure we should be doing this!" Ino hissed, crouching next to the rest of Team Eight in the trees above the training ground two days after the revelations her teammates had given her. She had gone home and thought long and hard about what she had heard, after thinking even longer on what she had seen after leaving, and decided she was right the first time; her teammates were the same as they had been before she learned their secrets.

Actually, she felt all the closer to them knowing that they trusted her where even her sensei didn't.

It hadn't taken her much time of talking with her mother about various things with leading questions to find out that she knew about Naruto's sealed friend. That was enough to make a believer out of her for everything else when everything was taken together.

And now, Team Eight was together for what Anko called 'Sink or Swim Training'.

"Get used to it, girly," Anko grunted quietly. "This is a major part of our job and you're going to have to learn to do it more often. Practice makes perfect and all that bullshit. Now claim your targets."

"Hinata, Kiba," the soft-voiced girl said immediately.

"Naruto, Sasuke," the male blonde said right after his mate.

"Damnit," Ino muttered. "Ino, Sakura."

"Good. We'll keep the pervert off your backs. Goal is knock-out, tap-out or submission hold until we call it. Move," Anko ordered, turning to wink at Kurenai who had given Anko lead on this mission since it was her idea and following her Genin into the fray.

Hinata moved with the others to stay down wind of their targets, but shot forward a second before the others to make an assault on the lone Inuzuka of Team Seven. He would know she was coming in advance, but she could also watch his actions with her Byakugan as she leapt over several bushes and launched several shuriken, forcing the boy to hop away and to the side while Naruto rushed through the same bushes below and darted forward to launch a kick at Sasuke, separating him from Sakura and Kakashi.

Anko popped out of the ground with a maniacal laugh as she launched a dozen shuriken at Kakashi, making him use a quick replacement technique, and then ran out to where she felt his signature to watch the havoc and make bets on their teams.

Ino was last, shooting out from around the trees and rushing Sakura, who was watching everything through wide eyes and trying to figure out what was happening with what she had thought were allies. The blonde girl launched a punch that Sakura just barely managed to throw up a guard for and knocked the pink-haired girl back several paces since she forgot to set her stance.

"Ino! What the hell!" The Pinkette screeched.

"Practice setting up and defending against ambushes," Ino said quickly, rushing her friend. She leaned backwards at a near ninety-degree angle and lifted her leg for balance and to feint a kick to the head that Sakura attempted a futile block against as she spun like a top and rotated to leg sweep Sakura, dropping the girl roughly to the ground and continuing her rotation to bring herself up and drop her heel into Sakura's solar plexus, knocking the wind out of her. As Sakura bent her head forward from the hit, Ino swept around her and wrapped her arm around her neck and right arm in a sleeper hold.

"I-Ino," Sakura stuttered, losing precious awareness, "st-sto-stop! G-g-g-" Sakura's pleading tapered off slowly as she succumbed to darkness. The blood on either side of her windpipe had been blocked off too long and she fell to the blonde.

Ino waited for several long seconds to ensure Sakura was really out before letting go with a frown. "How in the hell did you beat me during the Academy?" She asked the unconscious girl, truly shocked. "Has training for a month actually made it that easy?" Shaking her head, Ino quickly tied her friend to a tree and bound her hands to keep her from using any jutsu she may have learned to help get out of this situation and checked for the standard rope knife hidden at the waist of most shinobi, sighing when she realized it wasn't there. _'You and I are going to have to have a long talk, Sakura-chan,'_ Ino thought sadly. Once the girl was tied up, Ino drew back and smacked the pink-haired girl, bringing her back with a screech of protest.

Up in the trees, watching over the whole thing, Kakashi turned to Anko, who was laughing darkly. "Best two out of three," he said sadly. He had actually thought Sakura would defeat her opponent easily and had made his bet for all of his students winning once he saw the match-ups. Sakura had managed to not only get taken out without throwing a single punch, but had also only managed to block one attack, which she had seen coming from about ten yards away.

"Fine, but that means that not only do you have to teach them each a jutsu they don't know, but you have to run through Konoha's market district naked for changing the deal in the middle of the game," Anko offered.

"I can't even if I wanted to," Kakashi said with a wince. "I've ... er, got Gai helping me with things, hence my new attire. Part of a deal we had means I can't do anything like that."

Kurenai nodded approvingly. "Then no changes. You'll teach them each a jutsu they don't know, two jutsu if all of ours win. That's what you get for thinking not a single one of yours would lose." The red-eyed woman neglected to call Anko on betting the same for their own team. There would be plenty of time for it later if need be.

"... Damn it."

"So, Hinata-chan," Kiba began with a grin. "Decided you wanted to see if I can be better than the dobe?"

Smirking, Hinata rushed and launched a roundhouse kick at the dog-user's head, getting blocked with his forearm before rotating and kicking again with her other leg for his weakened guard. It wasn't a strong kick since most of the power was lost with the first, but it was enough to pull back and kick him backwards with both feet at once. She landed on the ground and kicked up at the same time as Kiba rose. "I'm all Naruto-kun's, Kiba. But the others have scores to settle."

Kiba rubbed his chest and glared at the Hyuuga heiress. "He's the weakest in our class! How can you possibly like him more?"

"It helps that his cock is more than twice as big as yours and he lets me play with it any time I want," Hinata said simply, watching Kiba's eyes widen and go glassy as his mind began thinking of something other than fighting. That was her cue to flash through several seals and smack her hands to the ground. _'Kiba always _did_ think with the wrong head.'_

"Mud Rush!" Hinata yelled, more for Kiba's sake since performing jutsu silently had become second-nature during the war, sending a three-person wide shot of mud from the ground in front of her into the Inuzuka and hitting his shoulder. He had come back to the fight with just enough time to keep himself from getting hit in the chest and face when he heard her yell.

"Are you trying to kill me!" Kiba shrieked, dodging several more similar attacks.

"The worst this attack will do is put you into the hospital for a few days," Hinata chided with a frown. "I suppose I can try something different if it's too much for such a big, strong male like you to handle," she offered.

"Arf!" Akamaru was stuck up to his chest in a mud puddle that had been turned sticky so the dog couldn't get out and wasn't pleased with it.

"I won't forget about you, Akamaru!" Kiba promised. "Just give me a second to put this one in her place!"

Lavender eyes narrowed at Kiba's audacity. No one got to dominate her other than Naruto! "Castration!" Hinata yelled, sending spikes of earth to Kiba's groin.

"You stupid idiot! I'm the heir of the Inuzuka! I need those!" Kiba yelled, hopping from place to place and slowly making his way towards Akamaru as the ground lanced up repeatedly, aimed towards his groin.

"Divination Field – 64 Strikes!"

"What!" Kiba looked behind him to find another Hinata just in time to receive a chakra-infused strike to his shoulder, knocking him off balance. Then he began to receive several others as the pain continued.

"Two down and only one to go!" Anko cackled, dancing a jig on the tree branch in a surprisingly decent Riverdance rendition. Kakashi's shoulders slumped, but he was sure of this last one. There was no way this one would be able to best Sasuke.

Sasuke picked himself up off the ground and swiped at his mouth to clear it of first blood. Naruto had just landed a lucky mule kick that sent the Uchiha up and over his opponent and it hurt like a bitch. "You'll have to do better than that, dobe."

"Don't worry, Sasuke," Naruto said with a smirk. "I won't ruin your pretty face. You can go and cry after I'm done toying with you." In truth, Naruto was somewhat impressed with the other boy's taijutsu. He didn't remember some of these moves being in Sasuke's arsenal. But then, he had gone several years with only occasionally fighting him, so it was possible he had forgotten, which he assumed.

Sasuke growled and launched himself at Naruto behind a couple kunai, tricking Naruto into bounding up into the air. "Hn! Katon: Grand Fireball!" Sasuke breathed in and blew out a massive fireball as Hinata and Ino moved back to watch the fight under orders to not intervene.

Sasuke smirked until the fire dissipated, showing charred remains falling to the ground. "Not so tough now, are y-OOPH!" He was thrown forward from a kick to his head where Naruto dropped from the trees above him.

"Substitution! Gotta love the simple things in life," Naruto said with a smile. "Time to get up, Uchiha! You've got a fight to finish!"

The last Uchiha stayed on his knees and acted like he was hurting worse than he was, getting Naruto to step closer out of confusion before he spun and pushed off of the ground and kicked at Naruto's face. The blonde's eyes widened as he instinctively leaned backwards and away from the foot until Sasuke realized the most perfect opening had been created. He hadn't been deaf when the Hyuuga had been speaking.

Sasuke quickly set his feet and threw his foot into Naruto's groin, kicking him hard enough to make him raise into the air nearly two feet with a metallic ting, his eyes wide in shock. Then Sasuke grabbed his foot and began hopping around. "Ow! What the hell! Have you got brass balls or something!"

At the sidelines, Ino blushed and leaned over to Hinata. "Okay. I understand why you got him that protective plate, now."

"Definitely worth more to me in working condition than not," Hinata agreed right before giggling perversely.

Growling at his failure and confused as hell as to how Naruto's balls hurt him more than his armored sandal hurt Naruto, Sasuke hopped up and threw several shuriken around the dazed Naruto to keep him from moving away and then four kunai in the middle in an attempt to impale him. As soon as he saw Naruto signing for a jutsu, he smirked and quickly rolled an explosive note into his next shuriken and launched it with a kunai right after. It was a technique he had seen his older brother perform and Sasuke had practiced it mercilessly to hit things from behind somewhere else, using the kunai to deflect the shuriken. Seeing Naruto using a jutsu to block his weapons, he assumed it would be something like a wall defense after seeing the Hyuuga's attack on the dog boy.

Naruto heard the clang just in time to look up and see the shiny weapon coming at him with wide eyes. He had only just enough time to kawarimi with Sasuke before the explosion hit, leaving Sasuke groaning on the ground with part of his shuriken in his side and with mild burns on his face and hands. Naruto had been low enough that the explosion itself hadn't actually hit Sasuke, but the impact of the explosive wave caused all of his joints to hurt. Badly.

"The hell, Uchiha!" Naruto yelled out. "We're obviously not fighting for blood here!"

"Blood yes, killing no," Anko corrected as she and the other two Jounin showed up, radiating anger. "What the hell is wrong with your Genin, Kakashi! Even an idiot could tell this was just an exercise!"

"In his defense, these things are meant to be done with as close to real conditions as possible," Kakashi said with a sigh. "It was extreme, but not wrong. It's worthless if they go easy on each other all the time."

"Shouldn't we get him to a hospital!" Sakura shrieked, trying to help Sasuke and having no idea what to do. _'Why don't they teach medical jutsu!'_ She wondered, glaring at Naruto for causing all of this even though it wasn't his doing.

_'I should have known better than to release her yet,'_ Ino thought.

"Eh, probably," Kakashi shrugged. "Why don't you start walking him there. I've got to-"

"Like hell, Sensei!" Sakura shouted, getting into the man's face. "You're the fastest of us! You need to get Sasuke-kun to the hospital!"

"Alright, alright!" The silver-haired man agreed, wanting the screaming to stop. "Fine. Go untie Kiba and meet me there."

"You really let your Genin order you around like that?" Kurenai and Anko asked as one.

"I should have left her bound and gagged," Ino muttered to Hinata.

"She's a disgrace," Hinata added, nodding to Ino. "And she really needs to be reminded of her station. She isn't in school anymore and she can't order people around without expecting to be shown her place." Somehow, she couldn't help but think it was something very long overdue.

"She's a kunoichi. They're always moody," Kakashi shrugged, hopping off with Sasuke just in time to avoid a Jyuuken strike to his lower back and a kunai swipe from Anko.

"Naruto-kun," Hinata said sweetly, too sweetly for the murderous expression on her face.

"Yes?"

"When we go see the Hokage, remind me to request a mission for Team Seven."

"Want any ideas?" Anko asked with a big grin.

"I've already got it figured out," Hinata said calmly.

xXxXxXx

Sakura sighed as she walked home after Sasuke was admitted to the hospital. She was pretty miserable and on the verge of tears. Ino had not just simply beaten her. She had _defeated_ her. Ino had not even had to _try_ to win! The girl had made it seem easy!

_'It _was_ easy,'_ Sakura admitted to herself. _'I was absolutely pathetic! Maybe I should see if Ino would train with me.'_ She rubbed her neck where it was a little sore from Ino's assault. She also had a killer headache that Kakashi-sensei assured her was normal after a sleeper hold.

That she would 'get used to it' was not consolation to the girl. Nor was she appeased when he told her people don't normally return to consciousness so quickly. If she got into a situation like that in the field, there was no telling what her enemy could do with her body!

"Hey Sakura!"

Sakura looked up and saw Ino with the rest of Team Eight walking towards her. "Hey Ino! Where are you going?"

"Hokage Tower," Ino explained. "You okay?"

The pink-haired girl scowled. "You actually knocked me out with that sleeper hold!"

"Then the next time you are in that situation, try to gouge out your opponent's eyes or pierce the soft parts of their neck with your thumb," Ino commanded in a scolding fashion, not slowing as she continued with her team. "Tell Kakashi to teach you guys how to get out of that shit! There's no telling what may happen to you otherwise! Gotta go to the tower, so see ya!"

"Eye gouging?" Sakura repeated absently before she shuddered. "Ewww! I could never do that! I'd get gushed eyeball all over my hands!" She would eventually find holding someone's eyes she had ripped from their sockets was much better than being violently raped or tortured, but until then, the supposed 'lady' in her found it repulsive.

Needing something else to think about, Sakura continued her path home as she considered Naruto. _'I heard that ting when Sasuke-kun tried to kick him between his legs. I wonder how that happened. Did he have them replaced or something? No, that can't be it. Not if what Hinata said to Ino-chan was for real.'_ She blushed as she remembered what she heard and resolved to try and not think of that.

Frowning, Sakura considered how she could try and get more training in. Kakashi was apparently opposed to training outside of full team meetings and even then, it usually required all three Genin asking, or just Sasuke. But it was never jutsu, just taijutsu. _'I need to ask another ninja for advice and help,'_ she realized. At least to supplement what Kakashi would teach. Her own family were mostly civilians and, as such, they had no ideas in regards to how to help the girl train. That was one reason she was book smart and not well-trained otherwise. Her parents constantly had her come in for 'breaks' when she started and it had become habit. So, a real ninja had to be her source of inspiration.

That resolved, she waited until she saw the first Jounin and then approached. He was obviously a bit more battle-hardened, so he had to know a bunch of good things. He was actually a little scary, too, but this was Konoha! The ninja were good people! "Excuse me, Jounin-san. Could you give me some advice on training?"

Six feet of stocky, muscular and scarred Jounin looked down at the waif of a girl with bright pink hair and was about to tell her to 'fuck off' until he saw she actually had a hitai-ate. Apparently, they lowered the requirements for Genin. Drastically. "Nobody trains newbies for free," he said, looking over the girl's body. "If you want training, it'll cost you."

"Oh," Sakura asked, surprised. "Erm, how much?"

"I get enough money from missions," the Jounin grunted with narrowed eyes. "If you want training, I want a bed partner for the night."

"What!" Sakura shrieked, her pink hair standing on end. "You can forget it, pervert!"

Before Sakura knew what had happened, the man was suddenly in her face, so close the tips of their noses touched. If she hadn't just wee'd herself in fear, she may have been willing to pull back. But for the moment, her entire body was locked straight up. "You asked, you little cum bucket." Sakura's anus squeezed shut out of reflex, but in reaction to what, she _really_ didn't want to consider. "Most ninja won't hesitate to take you somewhere secluded and use you until you split in half. I'm nice. Either accept my offer, or leave. Choose," he commanded in a low, growling voice.

The Jounin had seen the eyes the pink-haired bint sported many times in his past. The girl was too scared to respond to anything. He could probably have taken her away without her uttering a sound, but he wasn't evil. He was just horny and had just come back from a long mission out of Fire Country and didn't want to deal with a greenhorn Genin who obviously didn't take her current training seriously, much less what he would teach her.

Shaking his head, he hoped he either got her to quit being a ninja, since she was obviously flaky, or would be more mature about who she asked for help. Family, the sensei she should have who should be teaching her or even a request as a mission.

He reached out and smacked the girl's cheek just hard enough to snap her out of her fear-induced shock as he stood up, rolling his eyes as she cowered. "That is your first lesson. Don't trust just anyone because they're from Konoha or somewhere you trust.. We aren't all good samaritans and willing to help young girls the way they hope we will. Now leave."

Sakura nodded quickly and took off like a bat out of Hell. She didn't stop until she was not only at home, but in her room and under her bed where she could remember hiding when she was much, much younger. Somehow, it didn't help nearly as much this time around. Not when the thing she was currently scared of was used to residing in shadows.

xXxXxXx

Late that night found Team Eight in their communal tent at Training Ground Seventeen. It was one of the training grounds furthest from any clan compounds or the general public on the Northern sector of Konoha a mere half mile away from the Forest of Death. They were once again doing nighttime shift drills and taking turns keeping watch for enemies.

"Why do we have to do this crap again?" Ino complained as they set up their tents, thankfully only once this time instead of repeatedly like their return from Kensei. They managed to keep their speed up, so their sensei were pleased.

"Because you need practice," Kurenai explained.

"But we did this before," Naruto whined, helping Ino keep the tent steady while he used his foot to drive in the securing spikes for it.

"Well, this time, we're not going to be here with you," Anko said happily. "You're keeping an eye out because we're going to ambush you randomly throughout the next week or so. It could be five times tonight or it could be three days before we show up again! And being this close to the Forest of Death, you have to worry about possible monsters coming out from the walls and looking for easy prey, so it won't just be us. So keep your guards up!"

"During the days, we'll still come by and train you, but you get to work out a rotating watch and have to successfully alert the others when we're attacking before we manage to take you out," Kurenai explained as all her Genin finished and came up to them.

"We'll use these training tags and practice weapons," Anko explained, holding up exploding paint bombs and various other items that would function almost like the real deal, but not actually harm, "so you know when you've been hit. Fail, and you get a crash course in poisons."

All three Genin shuddered. They knew she was serious.

"Hey, aren't those my prank things?" Naruto asked, recognizing the paint bombs. They were close to exploding tags, but more like explosive pouches of orange paint. They functioned with simple firecrackers he had obtained at a festival as a kid and learned to make. He almost hadn't recognized them because they were such an older model compared to what he used now. "How'd you get them?"

"Eh? The ANBU training department uses them for mock battles and raids," Anko said, suddenly wondering where they got the idea. Thinking back, they were only about four years old.

"That's one of my Toilet Busters, too," Naruto said with a frown, handling the U-bend explosive. It was filled with another mild explosive and, instead of paint, had been filled with viscous farm animal droppings and tar. "I guess that explains what that ANBU meant by 'confiscate' when he took my design materials."

Anko and Kurenai looked at one another. They really doubted Naruto would really lie to them and the timeline for their designs certainly fit. "Well, the ANBU use various explosives and timers in their official versions," Anko continued.

"Like this?" Naruto asked, summoning similar items from his personal scroll. The devices were much smaller and much more tastefully created than what the ANBU had in their possession. "I know we're supposed to be sneaky, but explosives work just as well as a kunai to the back. Or poison or sleeping gas for neater jobs," Naruto explained.

Anko whistled as Kurenai wondered where the boy had time for these things, or how he came up with the concepts. Seasoned ninja, maybe, but these things were made up _before_ the point he returned back in time! "Wow kid," Anko said appreciatively. "This stuff is _much_ sleeker than that ANBU stock."

"Toilet Buster?" Ino asked, plainly horrified.

"Yea," Naruto chuckled nervously. "I went to a restaurant once and they tried to kick me out and throw a bunch of hot soups and knives and things at me, so I set them up to go off in their bathrooms when someone tried to use them. The suction causes everything ... er ... in the plumbing to spray out..."

Ino dry-heaved and shuddered, looking away as if it would help keep the mental images out of her head. It didn't.

"Alright, we can figure this stuff out later. The point is we are going to attack you guys with harmless stuff. You have your usual equipment, though, in case it isn't _us_ that comes to get you, understand?" Kurenai asked, getting three bobbing heads. With that, the two Jounin left, taking Naruto's devices with them and heading first for the Hokage Tower. If what Naruto said was true, then he had a whole lot of money coming his way and an ANBU would be spending time with Ibiki for claiming the work of what had been a nine-year old boy at the time.

"I'll take first watch," Naruto said, giving Hinata a kiss goodnight and hugging Ino with an arm around her shoulder. "You did really great against Sakura today. You're already a great deal better than you were even a year from this point in the original," he told her, making the blonde girl blush.

"Thanks."

"Don't thank me. You worked your ass off," Naruto said with a grin. "You've earned my respect, many times over."

"Mine too," Hinata said, hugging Ino. "I'll take second watch."

"Alright you two. G'night and sleep well," Naruto said.

"Night," Ino replied, going into the tent, pausing only enough to watch Hinata and Naruto share another kiss, this one far, far more passionate than the one Naruto had given her moments ago. She was inside by the time it ended and Hinata turned to follow her in, leaving Naruto with a very awkward problem and no way of dealing with it.

"So you and Naruto have been pretty close recently," Ino said innocently to Hinata as they both began to disrobe for bed as Naruto took the first patrol outside.

Hinata quirked an eyebrow for only a moment, spotting the lead-in question from a mile away. "We've always been close since we began seeing each other," she admitted, watching as Ino frowned in obvious disappointment that she didn't talk about the friskier side of their relationship. "But, if you mean our physical relationship, yes. We're taking it pretty slow compared to what we both want to do. It's difficult sometimes to stop ourselves when we get frisky, but we all have needs that we want fulfilled occasionally, don't we?"

Ino blushed and looked away, slightly envious of her female teammate before eventually nodding. "You ... Were you serious when you said I could talk to you about ... those things?"

"We've spoken about them on occasion, haven't we?" Hinata asked in response, pulling off her shirt.

"Yes, but only in basic terms," Ino began. "We talked about how it's natural to think and feel things and how we advance more quickly than civilians and _training_ with Naruto-kun. But, I mean ... talking in more detail."

Hinata stripped her pants, remaining in her panties and a kunoichi chest wrapping that was easier to deal with than wrappings like Ino's since they were a pain to put on and take off and because wrapping one's chest simply _hurt_ when you had to apply them tightly enough to be of any use. At least when you already had a high B-Cup chest. There was a reason almost every kunoichi was known to have a good figure, and it was their training and early physical development. That was even why people were impressed that she and her sister developed so early. The major exception to those rules were the kunoichi who worked in the red light districts. But having that excellent figure was still a pain in the ass when you couldn't wrap your chest enough that breasts became a liability, hence an alternate wrapping that went on tight and could be tightened further without crushing her.

She looked to Ino as she sat on Naruto's sleeping bag, noticing Ino's blush and the speed at which a vein on her neck was pulsing, showing the blonde girl to be quite nervous or excited. She was obviously looking for someone she could confide in and who would also keep her own secrets or just simply someone to talk to.

Hinata mentally sighed as she realized Ino still held several reservations about various topics that were out of the norm in civilian social strata whereas ninja talked about anything and everything that wasn't classified. To Hinata, this was as much a clinical discussion as it was girl talk. She had been training under Godaime Tsunade for two and a half, nearly three years when they came back and talking about sex and other various things that used to make her nervous had just simply died out as she aged and dealt with more serious things, especially with a war raging the majority of her shinobi career at four of the seven years.

"Ino-chan, I'm going to be very blunt because I think it will make things easier for the both of us," Hinata said in a strong voice, trying to project a calm and soothing demeanor. "You can talk about anything with me. Anything from techniques, to food recipes. Sex, killing, boys except the Uchiha, girls, clothes even if I don't know much regarding common styles and anything else is all acceptable. Even if you wanted to talk about Naruto and myself, since you already know and promised not to say anything, you can ask and I will tell. If there's something I don't want to talk about, I'll say as much, but I will never get upset or angry about things. Whatever you'd like to talk about, I'm okay with doing so. It's nice to just talk, isn't it?"

Ino smiled guiltily. "That's ... kind of what I'm hoping for. Sakura was really the only close friend I had and I haven't really been friends with her for a long while and she doesn't really know much except how to get off. I just thought it may be a little strange since we've only been teammates for a few weeks, well ... a month, and didn't really talk before that at all. And I don't really have the history with you guys that you remember with me."

Hinata smiled indulgently and shrugged. "Well, we're teammates now, and that requires trusting each other with our lives. If we can't talk, then we have no hope of surviving later. So what would you like to talk about? My physical relationship with Naruto-kun?" She asked, thinking that was where Ino had been trying to lead it.

Ino blushed. "Yes and no. I ... took your advice ...," she said, trailing off in embarrassment.

It only took Hinata a second to connect the dots. "Oh! You mean about masturbating?"

Ino choked as Hinata's cavalier attitude and waved her arms trying to shush the girl. "Shh! I don't want Naruto to hear!" Hinata pretended to zip her lips and throw away the zipper and waited for Ino to continue, which she did with a sigh. "Yes, with ... _that_. But, even though it didn't hurt this time, it didn't feel as good as ... well-"

"When Naruto-kun does it?" Hinata finished helpfully, repressing a triumphant smirk. But only just barely.

"Yes," Ino admitted. "I can't figure it out. I even spoke with Sakura about this before our last mission because she's been doing it for a long time now and she was just too nervous to talk about it and just said she rubbed herself and it was okay. Am I doing it wrong?" Ino asked, now getting past being nervous and being just upset at her lack of ability to do something that was supposed to be so basic.

"Well, does it at least feel good when you do it?" Hinata asked speculatively.

Ino hummed in thought for a moment before nodding. "Yes, it does. Not as good as Naruto, again, but it doesn't hurt and it feels good. I just don't ... get along. It's like it'll get a little into it and I'll get ... wet, but I don't get any closer."

"What do you normally think about?" Hinata asked. "That plays a big part of it. If you aren't mentally into it, then you won't be physically either. Arousal is more than just getting wet and touching yourself. It's as much mental as physical, usually even more so for a girl. Guys could get hard staring at linoleum. We need our minds stimulated, too."

Ino hemmed and hawed for a few seconds before Hinata thought she understood. If Ino didn't have a tendency to masturbate before recent activities, then it was probably their 'training' that started her down that path, which meant she'd use whatever experience she had. "Ah, you think of Naruto-kun? I do too, don't worry about it."

"What?" Ino spluttered. "You ... You don't care if I ... er, _think_ about him?"

"Why would I?" Hinata asked, honestly confused. "He's handsome, has beautiful blue eyes, a wonderful body, an absolutely fascinating penis and hands that practically turn me to goo." She was also hoping to get Ino thinking about him as well, but didn't want the blonde girl to know that yet. "I'd be surprised if you didn't unless you were still focusing on the Uchiha, but you seemed to have been thinking about that and realizing who and what he is. I'm perfectly okay with it if you want to think about Naruto-kun. I've said it before, but I'll say it again; as teammates, we may have to pretend to be romantically involved sometimes for the sake of our missions and that could be anything from pretending to be in a relationship to kissing, touching or sharing a room. Hell, sometimes, you even have to go through the motions of sex so someone who may be listening in on what is happening in your room at an inn will hear it. Feel free to think about him doing all sorts of naughty things to you; I do. It's about the only way I can get off. And real memories are much better than fake ones. So think about what Naruto-kun does to you any time you want."

Ino stared into Hinata's eyes, reading the girl's sincerity and had to admit, if the Hyuuga maiden was a liar, she was a damned good one. "But, he's your boyfriend."

"True," Hinata said with a nod of her head with a lecherous smile. "But he's also hunky."

Ino giggled, feeling very at ease. "Er, well yes, I think about Naruto and the things he's done to me, but that's about it. I don't really have any other, um, experiences or anything to go by. I've never really touched myself or been in any situation other than imagining things happening until our chakra control training."

"Ah. I was like that for a while," Hinata admitted, sharing a similar time with the other girl to make her feel more comfortable. "When I first started, I could get extremely turned on by thinking about him, and usually did, but I had only the sight of Naruto that we saw every day at school until I got the courage to use my eyes. That was the first time I was actually able to finish myself off. Hell, I almost came the moment I saw it if I'm going to be honest."

Ino's blush was quite strong, but Hinata's calm discussion and the ease in which they were talking was making her more comfortable, much like their last discussion about this topic. "Well, er, I've seen him ... from when I found you two, that is, but it doesn't seem to help when I think about that. At least not much."

"How do you do it," Hinata asked, causing Ino to shift on top her sleeping bag.

"Erm, I just kind of, rub around?" Ino suggested, making a little circle motion with her hand in the air for Hinata to see, making her frown in thought. It was apparent that Ino didn't focus on the locations that did what she wanted and didn't seem to take the time to explore, but how to fix that? It should have been mostly obvious if the blonde girl took the time to feel, but she was apparently unable to determine that. Or she was just one of those girls who had trouble with self-gratification. Hinata had come across some of those while making rounds along Tsunade and Shizune in the future in the hospital. It wasn't that they didn't know what to do, but more that they just couldn't get into doing something for themselves and needed some form of stimuli to carry them along. Ino had never cared for sex that she could remember, so they had never talked about it, leaving Hinata unable to explain the odd situation.

Suddenly, Hinata had a wonderful idea. When you were training a ninja or a pet, you didn't just start ordering them to do what needed to be done and then punish them for not obeying properly right away. You showed them what to do, got them to learn the rules and then held them to not regressing from something they've learned. And this could be just like that very same thing.

And it got her to a point where she could bring Ino in a little faster if she was right, which she planned to ensure.

"Strip," Hinata commanded of Ino, making the blonde go wide-eyed.

"What?" Ino asked, sure she had heard wrong.

"Take your clothes off," Hinata said again as she got up, removing her wrappings and panties so she was just as naked as the blonde was about to become.

"Er, Hinata-chan, I-"

"You want to know how to do this properly, and we'll have to see each other naked eventually anyway, and it isn't like you have something I don't or that I do that you don't. Naruto-kun's method of patrolling means he walks around the camp with a few clones, so they won't know what we're doing. Now strip and I'll show you how to do it properly."

Ino couldn't believe herself when she realized she was already fingering her night shirt as she began to lift it up and over her head. Hinata's voice was firm, commanding and for some reason, Ino knew that Hinata was not going to accept 'no' for an answer from her. And if she were honest, she just wanted to learn. She liked the feeling that happened when Naruto did it to her, and she would like to experience it more often without having to ask for 'training'. So off came her silky blouse, revealing no bra or wrappings around her chest since she didn't quite need them yet and letting Hinata see her small, but developing breasts. They were merely a small A-cup that didn't really require any form of support yet, but still obviously in existence and her light tan nipples were hard and erect from the cool air. Or arousal. Hinata wasn't sure which, but either worked for her purposes.

Hinata watched as Ino shifted to remove her black panties; nothing elaborate or frilly, but simple black cloth that was obviously function and not appearance. Save for the smiling cat on the rear end, Hinata would have said there was nothing special about them. But once removed, Hinata could tell the blonde girl had only the lightest covering of pubic hair yet and was apparently already finding the discussion, or the situation, arousing as she noted the tiny shimmer of the bald lips of Ino's aroused sex.

Ino put her legs together slightly in embarrassment and looked to Hinata before the latter nodded once and stepped behind the blonde, sitting so Ino was between her legs giving both girls a small sense of déjà vu. "Um, w-what now?" Ino asked as she felt Hinata's warm arms slowly encircle her waist, running her palms over her thighs and making her shiver.

[Lemon Start]

The blonde swallowed thickly as she felt Hinata's nipples rub her back gently as the bluenette shifted about and realized she felt the other girl's sex firmly planted against her ass. It was ... not as wrong as she felt it should be.

Hinata leaned over Ino's left shoulder and trailed her right hand up the other girl's stomach and chest, circling the hardened nipple. "Show me what you do," she breathed quietly.

Ino shuddered and hesitantly moved her hand to her pussy and began to stroke the outside lips with one finger. "I- I j-just do this and after a little bit, I'll g-go inside to the first knuckle. I don't really want to risk going further until I know what I'm doing."

Hinata brought her left hand over to Ino's and grasped it, pulling it to her chest and put her right hand over Ino's. "With this hand," she said, squeezing the left, causing Ino to pinch her own nipple, "I want you to play with your tits and with this one," she used her own middle finger to gently push Ino's middle finger slightly into her own slick folds, "I want you to use and follow my hand. Stroke as I stroke. Do you understand?" Hinata asked, speaking quietly as she noticed Ino close her eyes and gulp, breathing more heavily.

"Y-yes," Ino stuttered, doing as she was told. She began by covering her left breast with her hand and squeezing the whole thing before pulling outwards until she was pulling only on her nipple and pinching it and used her right hand to circle her nether lips, pressing harder at the top, right above her slit and stroking downwards.

"Tell me what you're thinking about," Hinata ordered of the blonde.

"N-nothing," Ino said quietly. "I'm just f-feeling what's happening."

"That will never do, Ino-chan," Hinata lightly scolded, keeping her voice light, quiet and her hot breath as close to Ino's ear as she could manage. This was a first for her, too, but she would do what she could to both help her friend and teammate, and to ensure she would be able to do anything she wanted with her Naruto-kun. "Picture my hands as Naruto-kun's. Imagine _him_ behind you and controlling your hands."

Ino let out a shuddering breath, but did as she was told as she felt lips gently kiss her shoulder at the collar bone.

"What are you picturing now?" Hinata demanded.

"N-Naruto-kun," Ino muttered. "He's running his hands up and down my front, teasing me."

"Do it," Hinata ordered, controlling Ino's left hand under her own to tweak the nipple before sliding slowly down to her belly button, exploring the skin and soft edges of her stomach while the right began to slowly dip into her wet pussy lips, testing how easily the finger would penetrate.

"He- he's licking my neck," she said, swearing in her aroused state that she could feel a warm, wet tongue snake up her neck and then suck gently before pulling away. Ino tilted her head to the right to give the questing tongue more access. "He's pinching my nipples hard," she could feel her left hand being raised to her right nipple and her fingers automatically clamped down, causing her to squeak and her face to contort into one of pleasured pain for a brief second as her nipple was rolled aggressively between a thumb and forefinger.

Her right hand was drawn to the center of her pussy where she felt the heat radiating from her and the juices from within her running down the crack to her ass and cover the palm of her hand as a finger slowly eased its way into her. "He's rubbing me," she gasped, jerking forward as her finger hit her most sensitive spot.

"Where's Naruto-kun rubbing you?" Hinata breathed out, nipping Ino's neck and then licking the flesh to soothe the ache she had caused.

"M-my, my-"

"Your pussy?" Hinata asked. "Is he rubbing your clit?"

"Kami yes," Ino gasped.

"Gently roll your clit between your fingers, but not hard," Hinata cooed into Ino's ear, feeling the girl's entire body jerk between her legs as she obeyed and let out a mewl of pleasure.

"Nuh," Ino squeaked as she gently assaulted her clit and began to thrust her hips forward repeatedly and mindlessly out of pure instinct, "Nah, Naruto," she mumbled, causing Hinata to smirk darkly behind her where Ino couldn't see. The blonde girl was now almost totally lost and didn't notice Hinata taking her hands off of hers and bring one up to massage and tease Ino's left breast, crossing her arm over Ino's, and took her left hand to Ino's dripping sex.

"Would you like me to help you?" Hinata asked, slowly inserting her own finger into Ino's slit, taking the blonde's place. "Would you like me to finger your pussy?"

Ino gasped as Hinata spoke dirty and nodded, barely stuttering out a yes. "Ye-ye-yuh-huh!"

Hinata began to slowly slide her middle finger up and down Ino's swollen pussy lips and hugged Ino's naked body to her front, rocking them both back and forth as she began to stroke up, down and ever so slowly, beginning to enter into Ino as she began to finger fuck her.

Ino's mind was lost in ecstasy as she felt Hinata's lithe and experienced digits slide into her sopping pussy. Her tormentor's thumb kept rubbing her clit and her middle finger was pumping in and out of her and stroking the upper layers of her heated core, assaulting the nerve endings that she had never even realized existed before that moment.

"Ah-almost there!" Ino breathed out desperately, tilting her head back and feeling teeth nip at her neck and collar bone. "Ah-Ah! About to cum! Pl-please! F-faster!" Ino began to pant and moan louder and louder, causing Hinata to realize that Naruto would hear if she didn't think of a way to stop her from crying out in only another few seconds. She had his permission to work to bring Ino into the relationship, but he would still question the sounds if he heard them.

"Kiss me," Hinata ordered taking her hand from Ino's tits and turning her to face Hinata. Her eyes were half-closed and heavy-lidded, her face flushed and her mouth open as she panted, but she frowned in lovely confusion as if she couldn't understand what was being demanded of her.

"Wh-what?" Ino asked, barely able to make out that there was even anyone else with her.

"Kiss me," Hinata said more forcefully, getting Ino to let her head fall forward and kiss the other person on the cheek, causing the dark-haired girl to growl. "Kiss me, bitch, or you can finish yourself off!"

"O-Okay!" Ino agreed, willing to agree to anything right at that point. She was _so_ close and right on the edge!

Hinata grabbed Ino by her ponytail and tilted her head back, claiming the blonde's lips forcefully and almost painfully as Ino came violently, screaming into Hinata's mouth and gushed all over her hand, still stroking her. The blonde's hands found themselves behind Hinata's head and pulled her in for an even more heated kiss as she thrust her hips rapidly, trying to fuck the still-pumping finger for more.

After several seconds, and even more spasms, Hinata lifted her hand and grabbed Ino by the chin with her other. "Look," she demanded. "I've got your cum juices all over my hand."

Ino opened her eyes, panting heavily, and did look. Hinata's fingers were covered in an almost totally clear liquid and glistening even in the low light of the tent. "S-sorry," she panted, trying to catch her breath.

"Open your mouth," Hinata demanded, making Ino's eyes widen.

"What?"

"Open your mouth and taste yourself."

Ino felt she should protest, but she was still feeling the high from her orgasm and Hinata was the more experienced of the two, so she obeyed, watching as Hinata put her finger in.

"Suck it clean," Hinata demanded, pinching Ino's nipple to give a rush of pleasure to hopefully cloud her judgment just a little as Ino let out a slight whimper as her nipple was tweaked and a rush of heat flooded her. But the blonde did as she was told and closed her lips around the small digit and sucked it gently. "Bob you head and lick it. Pretend it's Naruto-kun's dick," Hinata said with her dark grin in full force. This would be a wonderful mate for Naruto-kun if she could get them both to accept it.

Ino silently did as she was told, too relaxed and tired to fight the order and enjoying what she tasted, slowly moving her head forward and back as Hinata let her taste her own fluids, taking both of her hands to hold Hinata's as if they were a valuable and delicate object to worship. Even the blonde's moan of enjoyment, while unexpected, made Hinata sure that Naruto would appreciate this.

Hinata pulled her hand away from Ino's mouth, who was still sucking the digit clean even though she had done that several seconds ago, and brought her hand to her own mouth, curious despite herself. She raised a soaked digit to her own lips, noting Ino's wide-eyed expression as she turned to watch Hinata clean the rest of her hand of the blonde's juices with a pale pink tongue.

Yes, Naruto-kun would be quite happy indeed.

[Lemon End]

"Hi-Hinata-chan," Ino asked, looking suddenly very nervous. "What does this mean? I mean ... you and Naruto-kun, but we just...?"

"Naruto-kun and I belong to each other, but while this was a little more advanced than what he would expect, he will not be upset by it. He's the sort who will understand that I was teaching you and why I did it this way. It's far more reliable than simply explaining what to touch and much nicer, wouldn't you say?"

Ino blushed and frowned. "Do ... do you have to tell him?"

Hinata realized what she meant. She would be embarrassed to have him know what she had done and that she needed help. "I cannot lie to him, Ino-chan. You can't have a relationship based on lies and secrets," she told her. The fact that she had already discussed the possibility of these situations with Naruto didn't need to be explained for the moment.

"But ... I don't really want him to know," Ino pled. "It's embarrassing to know that he'll know that I didn't know how to do this."

Hinata blinked at the large use of the word 'know', but shook her head. "Perhaps I can keep it secret for a little while, but tell him I showed you my method and I learned yours. He'll think it's just an extension of normal girl talk and, due to the complexity, as we're quite more difficult than boys to finish, we showed our techniques to one another?"

Ino didn't look convinced. "He'll still know, though."

"What if I ask him if I could explain or show you whatever you ask regarding sexual and physical information since I've got some medical training?" Hinata asked. "This covers the actions we take, the information we share and the like."

Ino pondered for a moment before shrugging slowly. It was the best option she could see outside of keeping the whole thing secret but, as Hinata had said, you couldn't keep a good relationship going that way. And Ino didn't think she could ask Hinata to do anything that could possibly jeopardize her relationship with Naruto. Especially since, in a way, Hinata just cheated on Naruto with her, or so Ino thought. The blonde girl didn't realize that there were a rare few exceptions. At least depending on the situation. Gaining permission to teach someone how to do something, particularly when a relationship like Naruto and Hinata's was as ironclad and solid as it was, was certainly one of those exceptions. Naruto had been perfectly okay with the idea when Hinata had brought it up to him several days prior since it was something that Hinata wanted.

Ino just didn't know that.

"I suppose that works," Ino admitted. "I just don't want you to get in trouble with him for this."

"It will be fine, Ino-chan. I will never touch another man, and Naruto-kun knows that, but as teammates, and both being girls, he's okay with this."

Somehow, that admission felt a little off to Ino, but she nodded with a blush. "Th-thank you. For ... er, helping me," the blonde demurred with her eyes downcast.

Something within Hinata loved that expression. She fully believed Ino would be a wonderful secondary mate for Naruto-kun, but at the same time, the blue-eyed girl was in a submissive state that appealed to the Alpha within the Hyuuga heiress. So she chose to claim that Alpha status.

She leaned forward and tilted Ino's face up to look her in the eyes, and then leaned forward and kissed the surprised girl squarely on the lips, pulling away with Ino's lower lip caught gently between her teeth.

"My reward for helping you," Hinata said lowly, staring into the wide eyes that were looking back at her in shock with the presence only the Alpha could provide.

"O-o-okay," Ino stuttered, shuddering as she realized this didn't bother her as much as she thought it should. She had kissed back. "Um... are we, er ... do this again?"

"If you want to," Hinata said as she watched Ino put her night clothes back on and curl into her sleeping bag.

"Um..." Ino blushed and tried not looking at Hinata as she focused more on getting into bed. "I guess I'll try it on my own first next time..."

"Well, if you can't or just don't want to," Hinata said with a smirk showing just so Ino could see it, "then I'll see if Naruto-kun would help us."

Ino squeaked and hid in her covers.

"That wasn't a 'no', you know," Hinata said, before chirruping brightly, "G'night!" And laying her head down to make a point of not giving Ino the chance to respond.

_'That's because it wasn't,'_ Ino thought as she stared at the tent wall, gently running a fingertip over her nipples as the thought had her ready for another round of 'learning'.

xXxXxXx

"Danzo-sama," the ROOT agent began, bowing low in front of his superior. "We have received a communique from Orochimaru."

Danzo didn't speak, but held out his hand and found the scroll in it without barely a shift in his subordinate's posture to suggest he had even moved.

_Oracle,_

_Our recipe is showing to be even more well-received by the people than we had expected. You can expect a delivery of one hundred and twenty orders in time for your festivities in a few months. Payment will be expected afterwards as agreed upon._

_Chef Sly_

Danzo chuckled. Somehow, the idea of Orochimaru as a baker amused him to no end. Still, he had originally expected a half dozen of these cursed seal shinobi. A hundred and twenty of them would be an incredible asset. He had obviously chosen well in aligning himself with the Snake Sannin.

Orochimaru wanted Konoha burned to the ground, but Danzo had always been an ally and had silently authorized any experiments the sly ninja could possibly come up with that didn't damage Konoha's infrastructure. Orochimaru, therefore, had always been somewhat fond of the man and was willing to gut the village of those who had once upset him, primarily Sarutobi, and allow Danzo the ability to lead the remains and rebuild with a strong alliance. Contrary to popular belief, Orochimaru had been both a patriot, and loyal to Konoha. At least until he had been overshadowed by a man who had only two powerful techniques to his name and virtually nothing else. Namikaze Minato wasn't even a Sannin and had been selected over him?

No, Orochimaru felt betrayed, and rightfully so in his eyes. And afterwards, when he was still loyal and had still been defending his nation, they turned on him. Never mind that those his experiments had been performed on what had been criminals scheduled for execution or enemy shinobi whose usefulness had been outlived or civilians who had been caught breaking the law and meant for execution anyway. Sure, Orochimaru had bypassed the legal system, but they were all guaranteed cases anyway.

Danzo had been aware and passed judgement on those people and that had been enough for Orochimaru. The Hokage couldn't be bothered by every little thing in the village. That was the point of that stupid Council, anyway. And the Snake Sannin had gotten caught and, as their agreement stipulated, he took full blame and went away until Danzo could bring him back with full status and allow him to become their new Hokage. Now that Orochimaru was kage of his own village, though, he didn't care for coming back. Not after all these years.

Danzo was okay with that. Sound and Konoha would be separate to all those on the outside, but they would work together on all fronts so their power was actually spread further. They worked for the same goals, so their ends and means met and they had no problems working together.

Though neither believed the other was fully honest and told the other everything. That wouldn't be how a ninja was meant to act and they would lose even more respect for each other if they tried.

"Danzo-sama, there are also rumors spreading through the Academy about Uzumaki Naruto and the camping trip the children were taken on. What was meant to be something akin to a murder mystery with Hyuuga Hinata pretending to be dead and having kidnapped her sister turned into the boy going into a rage and rushing into the forest. Supposedly, he accessed so much chakra it was visible around him and he was capable of throwing off both Jounin sensei who were attempting to subdue him from running into the forest after those responsible."

"Hm. How accurate can we assume this information?"

"Of two classes who went, half of the total students claim to have seen it directly while the other half claim to have at least seen the fallen Hyuuga's body. Mission reports show a sustained illusion was used."

"Interesting. Keep watch over such events."

"Hai, Danzo-sama."

xXxXxXx

"These came from Naruto?" Hiruzen asked, looking over the Toilet Buster the two Jounin had acquired from their lead Genin and the similar device obtained from the ANBU stores that Anko had, somehow, liberated before their arrival. Naruto's was simpler, but from what he could tell, far more impressive and less obvious. It also had many more options available. _'Most impressive.'_

"Yes. And he said that an ANBU had taken his inventions some time ago. Now, I know kids like to take credit where it isn't due, but Naruto has never once seemed like someone to do that and I've never heard of it except by someone who already hates him," Kurenai said.

"What he gave us uses seals to replace a lot of the mechanical aspects, but we've learned that was a ... recent alteration," Anko said. "The mechanical parts are definitely something Naruto could have come up with, and I'm pretty sure I remember him using them in the past when I saw him on his pranking runs. I could be wrong, of course, but I'm not."

_'So sure of herself, as always,'_ Sarutobi thought. "I will look into this and ask Inoichi to discuss the situation with the ANBU once I look into the situation and find out who it was. I'm afraid it was too long ago to remember."

Anko was about to suggest their team does the research, but decided it was pointless. And she didn't feel like wading through a bunch of documents to find the patents. "I'd also like your permission to get the team some interrogation practice in with Ibiki and myself."

"Likely as not, I would use Ibiki for this ANBU," the Hokage explained. "You may teach them as you wish so long as you ensure that your target is not of high priority or has information regarding something important. I will notify Ibiki to have someone prepared for you. When will you be doing this?"

"I suppose we could do it tomorrow," Kurenai offered, looking to Anko.

"Maybe three," Anko suggested. "It'll give ol' Ibiki time to find us a good one."

"It bothers me when you smile like that," Kurenai said.

"It works out for me, as well," Sarutobi explained. "I've got a mission on behalf of the Akimichi clan that Naruto, especially, is particularly suited to. They will be shopping for the month and will need numerous teams, though yours can assist singularly, getting the pay for the ten requested."

"I like the way you think," Anko said with an infectious grin. "Maybe that means we should wait a couple of days to attack them, too."

"Let me guess," Kurenai sighed. "You want them to expect it to happen and wonder when it is going to come."

"Indeedy do!" Anko chirruped.

"The mission is tomorrow, starting at eight. I expect you all here on time. Understood?" The Hokage asked, getting them back on track.

"Yes sir," both women said, being dismissed and leaving.

The next day found a quieter Team Eight than normal, as Ino was hesitant to look Hinata in the eye or speak to Naruto after her experience with the bluenette girl who was his girlfriend. Hinata had also managed to share an explosive morning with Naruto and was still content to remain quiet and let the memories run over her body as his hands and mouth had. He had not allowed her freedom until she had climaxed three times and she loved him for it!

Naruto's mouth was just simply too damn tired to say much of anything, but he _did_ let out the occasional happy noise.

"We're going shopping?" Ino asked happily. This was something she was _good_ at! This was _her_ moment to shine!

"Yes. You will be assisting the Akimichi with their food purchases for the month," Sarutobi explained, puffing away on his pipe.

"You know, you shouldn't smoke, Hokage-sama," Hinata gently scolded. "Your lungs become less effective and that will slow you down if you ever have to get into a fight."

Sarutobi glowered. There were some things he felt he was entitled, and smoking at will was certainly one of them. "You may go now," he said, waiting until they were gone to take a long drag of the tobacco. _'I am working out and training again. Even with smoking, I am better off than they remember, so I don't see myself dying of it any time soon.'_

"Grocery shopping?" Ino asked herself, wondering how their mission had turned into this.

"Better than weeding or picking up trash," Naruto said slowly, making sure to enunciate clearly since his tongue was still a little numb. Neither Jounin elected to ask about it. Don't ask and don't tell.

"I guess," Ino said with a pout before looking over to Hinata who still had a soft smile on her face. "Hey Hinata-chan, if we finish before lunch, are we going to cook or eat out?"

"Oh, eat out, definitely," Hinata purred, looking at Naruto through lidded eyes. Ino shivered and promised herself to watch how she phrased her questions in the future.

"Where we eatin'?" Akimichi Chouji asked as he hopped over to Team Eight.

Hinata was looking over to the rotund boy and answering before she could stop herself. "Between my-"

"-Barbecue!" Ino rushed out, answering with the first thing that went through her head other than Hinata's naughty bits.

"Hm?" Hinata wondered, blinking curiously at Ino before she realized what was going on and that she should probably stop thinking of that morning. "Oh, yes. We'll probably be eating barbecue for lunch."

"Great!" Chouji exclaimed.

"Why aren't you with your team?" Kurenai asked while Anko was waiting for something juicy to fly from Hinata's mouth again. Or anywhere, actually. It would just be less awkward from there.

"Today's our day off," Chouji explained as he led them to the shopping district. "Shikamaru is sleeping until about noon and I think Shino is using the day to train with his insects."

Three and a half hours later found forty Naruto's carrying two bags each marching into the Akimichi complex in single file with the real Naruto and the other members of his team at the head. There had been a brief kerfuffle at the grocer when they thought he was buying everything, but a quick threat from the blonde and Chouji's mom cussing the clerks out for keeping her from making lunch had made quick work of the idiotic cashiers.

Oddly, the cashiers weren't upset because of Naruto's furry problem, but because they truly expected he was using all that food for some kind of prank, each of them having found themselves victims of them in the past. Naruto had honestly been offended by that perception. He had never had much food, and he would certainly never waste it! Well, maybe the vegetables. He always hated those and that was more pronounced after coming back in time.

The many Naruto's stopped talking amongst each other as they entered the main building so as not to make anyone there feel like he was crazy. Much like the Hyuuga, there was one primary building with numerous living quarters attached. The difference, however, was that they were one large family in one large home whereas the Hyuuga divided themselves however they could. The only building separate was their storage facility for everything _except_ food, which was stored underneath their home, considering how quickly they went through it.

Numerous clones marched one by one into the kitchen and down through to the cellar, unaffected by the frigid air caused by seals to regulate the temperatures inside and began putting things away. All except for one. Three from the end, a Naruto clone stopped and stared at the curious artwork adorning the extremely large fireplace mantle where two whole pigs were roasting and turning on a spit.

In the picture were depictions of the Akimichi Family food pills, their trump card that was the ultimate reason behind their girth. Each was like a concentrated soldier pill that caused the body to burn through fat reserves to create immediate and ready-to-use chakra.

"Hey, Hinata-chan?" The clone called out, getting the girl to approach moments later.

"Yes?"

"Soldier pills work by burning through fat reserves for an immediate energy boost, right?"

"Yes," Hinata confirmed, confused. "Why do you ask?"

"And if there's no fat, it eats away at the muscle and bone, right? That's why overdosing is so dangerous?" The clone asked, ignoring her question for the moment.

"Yes," Hinata responded slowly, looking to where the clone was looking. "They're too dangerous," she scolded, erroneously believing she knew what he was talking about. "You will _not_ try to recreate their food pills!"

"No, no," the clone responded, not taking his eyes off of the portrait. "Remind me to look into my thoughts at this point later," he finally said looking to Hinata before kissing her on the lips and then pulling back to create another clone to take the packages and the clone then bounded out the window to think on his idea before poofing away. There really was no point in making the real Naruto go through all the planning when he could do much of it and then save them time.

"Do I even want to know?" Chouji's mom asked with a raised eyebrow. She had witnessed the entire conversation, being naturally curious about what the boy could want with the girl in her home while staring at her clan's most prized possessions in art form.

"I'm not even sure _I_ want to know," Hinata admitted with a shrug. "Oh well. He'll tell me later, I'm sure."

The original Naruto and the rest of Team Eight went to lunch and then to hire Team Seven for a mission in which they would find themselves forced to take pictures of various ninja ninja without as much clothing as they would normally be found wearing. If nothing else, it would show up as a failure. If it worked out as they hoped, Sasuke and Kakashi would refuse a black mark on their records like that, and they would get those pictures.

While that team was finding potentially lethal targets, the clone that had run off had gone to the forests around Konoha and climbed to the top of the trees and meditated in the branches, surrounded by the greenery. It was far, far quieter here than almost anywhere within the village proper and he was less likely to be found than a training area would provide.

He had never really carried around soldier pills. He could never afford them in the past, and when he went on a training trip with Jiraiya, the old man had forbidden him from using them because he feared how they would affect Naruto. He never had the fatty tissue to convert into chakra and the one time he had tried them, they found the Kyuubi burned it out of his system rapidly, making him very uncomfortable for a minute and then nothing.

Well, that wouldn't help him in the future! Even now, he had a whole group of S-Rank missing nin after him. And even with the Kyuubi giving him truly massive chakra stores, he ran out faster than those same missing nin because most of his jutsu arsenal was filled by chakra-intensive techniques. That, and his most efficient fighting modifier was the shadow clone technique, which effectively cut his reserves exponentially.

Naruto had a brilliant idea. The answer had been in front of him the entire time. The Kyuubi's seal.

The furry critter had actually said he used her chakra like a battery. And seeing the Akimichi food pills had reminded him not only of his lack of ability to use the standard form, but had given him an idea of how to get around that.

The Naruto clone would spend the next two days sitting in those trees and thinking over the logistics of his new idea that would revolutionize his fighting style.

Hopefully.

xXxXxXx

"Run Kiba! Run!" Kakashi leapt into air and rotated as he deflected the most dangerous of the kunai from hitting him. He had long-since revealed his Sharingan as several of the women and kunoichi from the hot spring chased Team Seven down, hell bent on removing the perverts from their midst. Good for dodging _and_ for memorizing bouncing bits.

The civilians had cornered Sasuke and had attempted to rape him, thinking he was simply playing hard to get and had come for that very thing. Sakura had just barely helped him escape, grabbing him by the only piece of clothing he had left, his underwear, and running as fast as she could and dragging the last Uchiha away.

Kiba had not been so lucky. Sakura was concerned mostly with Sasuke and was not helping the dog-user out, so when said dog-user tried to take off with the massive amount of underwear. He had been pinned to a wall by kunai that the naked kunoichi had gotten from Kami knows where and Kakashi had almost not been able to free him before he was hit with a water bullet.

The team all had cameras and were enlisted to take risqué images of kunoichi and make a calendar out of it, one image for each day. The day after their severe failure at evading an ambush, their first stop had been Kiba's sister, Hana. She had nearly neutered the men in the team and would have succeeded if they hadn't knocked Kiba down and ran, hoping she would fear her mother's wrath more than the satisfaction of revenge she would get. It had worked, but only barely.

Kakashi was lamenting the loss of his trove of smut. He had more than enough in there to support this mission multiple times over, but whoever stole it had not returned it. "Sakura! Jump!"

The pink-haired girl leapt to the roof top, accidentally giving Sasuke an atomic wedgie as she took him with her, and just barely escaped several civilians attempting to do something serious to her backside. They were not pleased that she had pilfered their newest toy.

"Why the hell would the Hokage assign us something like _this_!" Sakura screeched, kicking back the women who tried to climb their way up and shoved them back into the water with large splashes.

Kiba squealed like a piggy as a kunoichi introduced him to the blunt end of a kunai in an exit-only location and Akamaru wouldn't come out of a cubby hole where the pilfered panties had been taken from.

"Whatever it was, we _really_ pissed him off!" Kakashi yelled, taking a picture of the newest woman to step into the madness. Then all of the fighting stopped. The women smiled. The men whimpered pitifully.

Reinforcements had arrived. Five clothed, female ANBU radiating killing intent and hefting large, shiny weapons.

Kakashi was _not_ a fool. "Retreat! Retreat!"

xXxXxXx

Ino hummed gently to herself in a soft moan as she woke up on the third day of their camping excursion slowly, smacking her lips as she realized she had drooled a tiny amount onto what she found was Naruto's chest.

She still had the unconscious desire to cuddle in her sleep, and since Naruto had second shift and she had first, when it came time to sleep, Naruto was the only warm body to snuggle into that night. He was actually very comfortable and the slow, steady beat of his heart had been a surprisingly comforting aspect, which she hoped was the reason she was laying half on top of him and drooling into his chest.

Well, it was better than laying on Hinata's chest. The Hyuuga maiden had made too many jokes about enjoying it better without clothes for Ino's comfort bubble. Especially since she was still unsure about how to handle what the two had done.

"Oh good, you're up," Hinata said, peeking through the flap into the tent.

"Sorry," Ino mumbled with a blush, getting of of the other girl's boyfriend.

Hinata simply smiled. While Ino wasn't as obvious as Hinata was, the Yamanaka was advancing very quickly in how much and of what she was willing to do and be around with her teammates. The fact that she was cuddly was just a very helpful bonus. "Don't worry about it. Just wake up Naruto-kun, please. Anko and Kurenai-sensei will be here soon. The sun is almost up."

Hinata left the tent and watched with her Byakugan as Ino's chakra rushed to her face and smiled gently as Ino watched Naruto sleep for several seconds before shaking him awake. Not before getting off of him and falling to his side, of course.

"Mm? What's goin' on?" Naruto asked, waking slowly since there was no obvious emergency in his shaker's actions.

"Hinata-chan says it's time to wake up," Ino told him.

"Meh. Five more minutes," he said, wrapping the surprised girl into a hug and snuggling into her and ignoring her squawk of surprise.

"Naruto!" Ino laughed, pushing him away. "She said they'll be here soon! We've gotta get up! Up and at 'em, lazybones!"

"Neh!" Naruto groaned, swiping at the girl's pushing hands. He was the sort who, once up, was up for good, but at the same time, he was _always_ playful. And messing with Ino took him back to times when she was a very good friend who had a fun natural banter with him.

Sadly, this Ino wasn't familiar with that banter, but actually _did_ have training under Anko. "Damn it, Naruto! Get up or I'll put my kunai up your-"

"Yes Ma'am!" Naruto belted out, hopping out of his sleeping bag and saluting before grabbing his clothes and rushing out of the tent before Ino could even finish her sentence. He wasn't sure if she would really do what she threatened. The Ino he remembered would if it was anyone other than him, but he was scared this Ino didn't care as much for teasing with him.

Being out of the tent, he missed Ino's amused smiled that only Hinata was able to see.

xXxXxXx

"Do you know what this place is?" Anko asked her minions as they all sat in the uncomfortable metal chairs. They were in a concrete room with one light bulb on the ceiling and only one heavy door, also made of heavy-duty metal and had one drain in the center of the room which the floor gently sloped to. The floor and much of the walls were stained with a rusty red color that had obviously once been blood.

"One of the interrogation rooms," Ino answered, looking around nervously. "My dad brought me here once when I asked what kinds of stuff he did. This is one of the low-risk rooms, right?"

"That's right," Anko said happily. "This is a purely an interrogation room. If we expect them to break easy or without a fight, or if we can't use heavy-handed methods, this is one of the rooms we'll use."

"Then why all the blood?" Naruto asked, rubbing his nose in an attempt to get the stench to clear his nostrils. It was somewhat annoying. He had a new respect for Kiba and the rest of his family.

"I said if we expect the person won't give us trouble," Anko grunted. "That isn't to say that they don't. Some look weak, but are surprisingly strong-willed. When they come in here, they tend to be wearing some chakra-blocking cuffs and we can ... _persuade_ them to talk."

"What we're doing here today is to experience this side of the shinobi world and to give you three a lesson on getting answers out of your prisoners or enemies as quickly as possible."

"Is that why Kurenai-sensei isn't here?" Ino asked. "She doesn't like this stuff?"

"She knows how to do it and has other things she is doing," Anko explained quickly. "She's not as talented as I am, since this was my primary job for the past couple of years, but she knows the drill. She's looking up some information for later."

"What you need to understand about interrogation, especially when used with torture, is that your victim may tell you what they think you want to hear or just simply lie. The point of interrogation is to get answers. And the point of torture is to break the person so they give those answers and don't try to lie to you."

"What if they don't know an answer?" Ino asked.

"That may happen sometimes," Anko agreed. "Also, if you don't break a person, then they may try to give you false information or just tell you whatever you want to hear just so you will stop the torture."

"Then how do we even get accurate information to begin with?" Naruto asked, having never been a part of this aspect of the shinobi world. He was always a fighter and went on information he was told. Either from his superiors, or from over-confident enemies who had no reason to lie and found it amusing to toy with him. _'In retrospect, maybe believing whatever they said was not always a good idea,'_ he thought.

"That's where skill comes in, brat," Anko said with a grin. "Some people, like Ino's dad, are known as human lie detectors because they learned to sift through the shit and drivel and pick out what is real and what isn't. Sometimes we get it wrong. Sometimes you don't just have to ask a question, but you have to ask the right question. And more often than not, it is all about how everything fits together to learn what is good information and what is crap."

"So, it's like a game. Two Truths and a Lie," Hinata mused aloud, intrigued despite herself. She occasionally healed torture victims and had been present when information was needed not only quickly, but as quickly as possible and they tortured to near death before healing them up to ask questions to give them the chance to stop it by answering a few simple and easy questions. She was used to the violence, but not the answers they gave.

"More like 'Two Lies and a Truth'," Anko corrected. "Most of what you hear is actually false. Or if not out-right wrong, then somehow misleading on its own. You'll eventually learn just by talking to people in general and interrogations in the field with captured enemies how to pick out the small details of truth and how to read if a person is lying entirely. A person looks to their left and they're likely accessing the creative centers of the brain, to the right are memories that are real, that sort of stuff. That's to say nothing of ramblings of those who snap and go crazy and speak gibberish and you have to assume everything both at face value, and as some sort of weird code in Crazy-ese. Torture will cause your victims to let out a lot of mad ramblings when their minds shut down and the pain is all they know, which is also when you may get your best information."

"Crazy-ese?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You know crazies," Anko said while waving her hand dismissively. "They practically have their own language. They could say they passed a waterfall, but it's actually a gutter on a house or something. Or 'liquid gold' was someone's piss or who knows what."

Ino made a face of disgust.

"So, what are we doing here?" Hinata asked. "This isn't a sneaky way of getting us to talk about ... our experiences, is it?"

Naruto perked up, not having considered that until Hinata mentioned it. Anko simply snorted. "Nah. We asked Hokage-sama about that and we aren't allowed to do that." The three Genin sweat dropped. "We're going to introduce you into how to perform an interrogation and get the information you want or need. We may give you an example of what you can experience and give you to Ibiki to suffer his tender mercies for a week later, but for now, you'll be on the other side of things."

"We're going to torture someone?" Ino asked with wide eyes.

Anko stared into Ino's eyes hard, all hints of her joking or playful persona gone as if with the flick of a switch. "Yes," she said firmly. "You need to know this information and you need to experience it. The sooner the better. It won't be the hardcore stuff like skinning them alive, but you _will_ be inflicting pain to get information."

They were quiet for several long seconds, contemplating what they would soon be doing. Naruto and Hinata had killed hundreds of enemies in their previous lives. Many were quick and sudden, killed and passed by without even a second glance as they went on to their next victims. Others, however, had been slow and torturous. Not generally on purpose, but the nature of war or random skirmishes. They just couldn't afford to waste time to ensure immediate kills. It didn't take them long to learn to confirm their kills since a living enemy sometimes had sacrificial techniques for emergencies like that.

Ino, however, had sparred against Academy students and the most recent Genin from Team Seven. She stepped on bugs without remorse, but she had never intentionally tortured anything. She had never even killed anything other than insects and the like.

This was actually going to be asking a lot from the girl.

"Who?" Ino asked simply, not sure what to feel.

"Does it really matter?" Anko asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I may have to do this, but for training, I should at least be allowed to know what made him deserve becoming a test subject," Ino said firmly, not willing to become what she felt would basically amount to being a monster for doing this to someone innocent.

Anko and the female blonde stared at one another before Anko nodded once, slowly. "I can respect that. But in the field, if I ever tell you to do something, you do it without hesitation," the purple-haired kunoichi said with hard eyes. "I don't care if I want you to go into the middle of a field and fuck yourself with your kunai or dance naked as bait. Do you understand?"

All three Genin were wide-eyed as their minds played visuals in their heads. "Would you really make me do that?" Ino asked quietly.

Anko snorted. "Probably not. There's no point in risking your life for something so blatant and obvious as a trap, but it's possible I could order you to fuck the enemy for some reason. It's a common tactic used by kunoichi. Same with little Hinata here." Anko noted, but didn't pay attention to Naruto or Hinata's growls or heavy intent to kill. It would appear neither would approve of such a tactic. A pity, really. "Face it. Sex works, and it's a kunoichi's best weapon. We don't generally make our Genin do that sort of stuff, but it does happen because Genin tend to be younger and many men enjoy them better that way."

"If you ever order them to do that, I'll stop them, kill you, and then kill the enemy," Naruto ground out, his eyes red and not blue.

"Assuming I don't get to you first," Hinata continued. "I belong to Naruto-kun and Ino-chan is our friend and we will _not_ allow her to do that."

Anko couldn't understand it. The brats were deathly serious, obviously, but there was something else behind their actions. And she didn't like it. "Failure to obey your leader is insubordination. While I don't expect, plan or even _want_ to order anyone to do something like that, understand it _is_ possible and if I or Kurenai order you to, you _will_ do so."

Anko spent a minute in a stare-off against the time-traveling Genin, happy that at least Ino wasn't sure enough of her actions that she would at least not be an insubordinate little brat like the others. But after a minute and a half, she snorted, giving up. For now. "We'll face that path if we come to it."

"Erm, so who is it?" Ino asked again, wanting to get the idea of being forced to have sex with a stranger out of her head.

"A murdering rapist of the women in the red light district," Anko explained. "Your mission is to find out how he murdered, why he chose those women, why he did it and if possible, how many. You'll also learn the usual goodies like his name, where he's from, trade, and other crap."

"Wouldn't putting him with women be counter-productive?" Hinata asked.

"At the end of the lesson, you tell me," Anko told them with a smirk. "We're going to meet him in a few minutes. Ibiki will actually be watching, along with Inoichi, yes your father, Ino, and a couple of our usual guards, just in case things get out of hand. He'll be bound, though, so I don't expect it. Any last questions?"

"Uh, yea," Naruto said as he raised his hand to be noticed. "Any particular steps we should take?"

Dozens of possibilities ran through Anko's head, but she decided this would be more interesting if she let them figure it out. "Assume the murdered women were kunoichi and you suspect it may be for an enemy nation to get rid of our spies who hear ninja talk and he wasn't working alone. Let that guide you to how to begin."

_'That didn't explain anything,'_ the female Genin thought to themselves while Naruto nodded slowly. He had a very good idea of what Anko was saying.

xXxXxXx

Twitch. Twitch.

"I have the circle marked down," explained a large, muscular man who was dressed in only faded and ratty hospital pants. The man had incurred the wrath of so many electro-shock therapy sessions that he didn't have a single hair on his body and his head constantly twitched as though he still had a constant stream of electricity running through him. His dark brown eyes were constantly shifting, looking for anything that could possibly be a threat to his partner and himself.

"Good job, Kanochi-kun. With the perfect containment circle etched into the ground, we can inscribe our summoning seals inside. We're almost complete," the other man rasped. This man was, quite simply, ancient. He was in his late nineties, though no one knew exactly how old for sure. His pure white hair hung to his waist in a stringy and ratty fashion and his frame was was thin and nearly all of his muscles had atrophied from constantly being stuck in a small cell-like room. But he was also six and a half feet tall with eyes that glinted with the madness within his mind.

While his body was old and frail, his mind was sharp and cunning, if quite twisted. He was a seal master of the highest calibre, one that even the fabled Yondaime Hokage paled when compared to.

"We probably," twitch, "only have a few days, Yogin-sama," Kanochi warned, twitching again. "The seal's huge," twitch. "Do we have enough sacrifices," twitch, "to fill the seal with their blood?"

"No," Yogin wheezed. "We will have to acquire approximately twenty humans to drain into the seal. Maybe get a few more just to be sure."

"Women?" Kanochi asked, licking his lips, twitching and squeezing his hands in anticipation.

"If you desire it, my friend. Their blood is naturally predisposed to give life, after all. You have elected to assist me in my endeavor, so it is only right that I repay your kindness. Perhaps we shall gather two dozen and you may have the extras for your own pursuits."

"Thank you," twitch, "Yogin-sama," Kanochi said, bowing his head.

"Yes. It is not a problem, Kanochi-kun. Your cycle of life and death will be complete again, I assure you. Now, please carve this seal into the ground and inside of the containment circle as I mark it out for you. Remember to be perfectly smooth with the lines, child! If there is even the slightest bit out of alignment, there could be dire consequences!"

xXxXxXx

"Will you just take a break already!" Kiba yelled, annoyed beyond all reason with the incessant pounding where Sasuke was beating a tree mercilessly. The fact that he had used a kunai to carve Naruto's face into the bark, very deeply to ensure it would last, proved he was not doing it just for the training. "I'm pissed about losing too, but if you break your knuckles, you'll be useless!"

As if to answer the other male, the thumping increased in tempo and became louder. _'I will _not_ lose to the village idiot! To that stupid, low-class, no-name, worthless dobe!'_ Sasuke growled as one eye below his scarred brow flashed red for a brief instant. His entire body shook with barely repressed rage. _'How! How did the fucking idiot do it! I'm an Uchiha! I train constantly! I was the top of our class! He failed repeatedly! Why, why, why!'_

"Sasuke-kun," Sakura tried, placing her hand on her love's shoulder, feeling him shaking as his right arm cocked back and stayed there, listening to her. She knew him enough to know it wasn't fear and that he really wanted to inflict pain somewhere. "Please calm down. Whatever trick that idiot used won't work on you again. You're too good to be tricked a second time. You've been training your ass off and if you don't take a break, your body won't have time to heal to give you the benefits of all the training you're doing."

This was the third day since Team Eight completely defeated Team Seven, and Sasuke had been in a rage ever since. He refused to say a single word. He refused to look any of them in the eye and he spent every single moment he had training and making himself stronger. Sakura knew this beyond a shadow of a doubt. She had been watching him ever since after he got out of the hospital. It just wasn't healthy for him to do that. Iruka-sensei had told them all that the body had to rest in order to heal, and since getting stronger was the result of breaking down the body and it healing up, stronger than before, that meant he was weaker now than when he got out of the hospital. That certainly wouldn't do!

"Remember how the body gets stronger," Sakura explained gently, trying to get him to see reason. "If you don't rest to let it rebuild, you'll be weaker than when you started since all you've done is train the last two days."

Sasuke bit back his first response, which would have destroyed the girl completely. He needed her to form his strongest bond, even if he hadn't been paying attention to it recently. She was his best bet at gaining the power to beat his older brother. And as much as he hated it, she was right. His body needed a rest. He was shaking in rage, that they all knew. But it was also because all of his muscles were strained and screaming for relief.

_'Why not kill two birds with one stone,'_ he considered, dropping his arms to his side. "Fine. My shoulders are killing me anyway."

"Well, you've got about two hours to rest before Kakashi-sensei gets here," Kiba snorted. "It probably won't help with the pain, but you'll get some of your strength back if you just sit the hell down and relax. You really need to find something to do that will give you some relief, man. Constant exercise will just screw your body up. My mom tells me that all the time."

"I didn't ask you," Sasuke bit out through a half-growl.

"I was just helping," Kiba snarled back with Akamaru yipping in loyalty to his master.

"Nn, whatever," Sasuke grunted, looking away. He began walking to the trees, passing Sakura on the way. "You coming?" He asked without looking or stopping. "I need to cool off."

"Of course, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura chirruped brightly, practically floating in place next to him with a huge grin and staring at him as they walked into the woods. However, the silence got to her after only a couple of minutes, so she got chatty. "Don't worry about Kiba, Sasuke-kun. He's just upset because you're so much better than he is. He was never better than you and he's angry he couldn't pull the same trick on you that Naruto-baka did and..."

Sasuke ground his teeth in annoyance, wondering why the shrew next to him just couldn't keep her mouth shut for even five minutes. She constantly went on and on about how great he was and how the dobe won due to some trick she couldn't detect or figure out. And that was what really pissed him off. He knew that Naruto hadn't done anything underhanded. He beat him, Sasuke, the last Uchiha, fair and square.

"-And Ino-pig just couldn't stand to see me on the same team as you, so she probably helped him..."

Sasuke squeezed his hand, desperately wanting to throttle the pink-haired harpy until she could no longer speak or annoy him with her useless diatribes. Why couldn't she be like his mystery sparring partner? Now _that_ was a kunoichi! She knew when to keep silent, she knew how to kick ass and she didn't automatically want to kiss his ass just because of who he was, even though she probably should have.

He was an Uchiha, after all.

"-just think that because he's got a puppy that will fight with him that he's better, but you don't need help! You're better than everyone else combined! I bet you could..."

Sasuke wasn't sure why he did it. He only knew that his plan was to get alone with Sakura so he could work on forming some kind of strong bond to the girl, but her incessant ramblings pissed him off even more than the dead last did. He was a trained ninja. He was trained to take out his enemies. But since he needed her alive, he would later assume it was his skill working for him making him choose his path rather than killing her as he had been envisioning at the time of the event.

Sasuke growled in annoyance, which Sakura would later claim was love and lust, shoved her hard against a tree trunk, incidentally knocking the wind out of her, and kissed her hard on the mouth, pushing his lips so hard against hers that her head was pushed into the trunk of the tree.

For Sakura, she suddenly heard the growl, knew her Sasuke-kun was holding her against him, pinned against a tree and kissing her so soundly that she could swear her lungs were trying to tell her to suck the air out of his lungs and she saw stars, which she would not realize was from her head hitting the tree until a much later date.

She had her arms wrapped around Sasuke's neck and her mouth open to accept his tongue as deep into her mouth and throat as he desired her to take it and then she was suddenly flat on her ass, her legs splayed apart and her breathing coming in ragged gasps, feeling extremely lightheaded.

"S-S-Sasuke-kun?" She asked, still breathing heavily.

"Do you want to be mine, Sakura?" Sasuke asked, staring down imperiously at her, watching her pink face darken as she looked up at him in adoration, love, respect and even worship. "Will you be my girlfriend? Do your duties as my girlfriend and help me practice to become an eventual head of my clan and father to my future children?"

He carefully made sure that he didn't specify those children would be with her. How could he? He expected her to be dead long before then. It wouldn't do to sire children before he gained the ultimate power of his clan! What if that made them weaker? It wouldn't be the right thing to do as the last Uchiha.

"You want me to be your girlfriend!" Sakura asked loudly, grinning widely. "Of course! I'll be the best girlfriend you could possibly ever want!"

"I know you will, Sakura," Sasuke said with the first smile he had shown in a long time. It wasn't pretty or even real, but it served the purpose of making the girl swoon from where she sat, though that could possibly be because she hit her head rather hard against the tree. But at the same time, he believed her. She would be his only girlfriend. He would train in all aspects of a relationship with her, and then afterwards, any women he had would be wives or simply exist to bear his children. He needed many children to bring his clan back to life quickly.

"Stand up, Sakura."

Like a happy puppy, Sakura stood a little shakingly, still finding herself lightheaded from what she thought was from the kiss. Any possibility of feeling pain was gone with the elation of _finally_ becoming Sasuke's girlfriend! _'Take that, Ino-pig!'_

"Do you understand what being my girlfriend means, Sakura?" Sasuke asked, wanting to be sure. He doubted he would get in trouble for what he would do with the girl. They were legally considered adults and only alcohol was off-limits to them because of the mind-inhibiting effects. But he was a genius and knew to be safe. "You will be my girlfriend in every since of the word. You will experience all aspects of a relationship to simulate marriage. I don't play House. All of those fangirls who dream of a happy family free of danger are never going to have me because I am a ninja, and we have to live our lives every day like it could be our last, because it _can_ be. That means I expect you to behave just as if we were together as fully as husband and wife. If you cannot do that, then you have no chance of truly becoming my wife and it would be over. Do you understand that?"

"I do, Sasuke-kun," Sakura said firmly. Her mind was clear and she understood exactly what he was telling her, or so it seemed. "You want us to basically live like a couple because if we can't, then we won't be able to in the future."

"Yes," Sasuke grunted out, crossing his arms. If she became a proper wife in essence, then he would certainly be willing to hold off on gaining the ultimate power for a little longer. It could only help, after all. And it may very well be much like husband and wife if she succeeded. He highly doubted it, but he was fair, if nothing else. She would have a chance.

"I understand, Sasuke-kun. I'll be just like your wife," Sakura demurred, looking down at her feet with a delicate blush on her cheeks. In a round-a-bout way, he had just said he was going to marry her in the future! All she had to do was be a proper wife to him! _'Shannaro! Sasuke's mine and Ino-pig was all wrong about him! He _is_ a good guy!'_

"Are you sure, Sakura-chan?" Sasuke asked lowly, making the pink-haired girl's eyes shoot up to stare at him incredulously. He had _never_ used such an honorific with _any_ girl! There was proof he was serious! "When I say I want us to be just like a married couple to see if we can do it, I mean it. I expect you to serve me as a wife serves her husband. Are you able to do that, or are you not the right girl for me?"

Sakura's head was shaking in denial before he was done speaking. She knew what he was asking for and it was her _dream_! It was the very thing she couldn't bring herself to say so bluntly in front of the others during their orientation! And anything she couldn't do, she would quickly learn. He was her everything and she would not lose him now! "I _am_ the right girl for you, Sasuke-kun! I can do anything you need me to! I swear I'll be the best you could possibly imagine! You'll never have seen a better wife! I'll be just like your wife! My life will be to serve you as yours, no matter what it takes!"

Mentally, Sasuke smirked. _'Bingo!'_ Outwardly, the raven-haired boy nodded slowly as if being convinced. "Are you willing to prove you have what it takes? That you can be my wife in every essence?"

"I'll do anything for you, Sasuke-kun," Sakura told him earnestly. "You mean everything to me. This is what I want in my future; to be your wife and give you strong babies."

Sasuke forced himself to reach out and run his fingertips down Sakura's delicate jawline, actually impressed at the softness of her skin and truly surprised when she brought her hands up to cup his and hold his palm to her face. Her hands were ... warm. Gentle. It had been a long time since he had felt the hands of a woman who truly loved him. Not since his mother when she sent him to school the morning his whole clan-

Sasuke's eyes hardened for a brief moment as his reasons for living were forcibly put back on track in his mind. "Then right now, I want you to prove to me that I mean that much to you and you'll do anything. And we'll see if you have what it takes to be my wife and be an Uchiha."

"Whatever you want, Sasuke-kun," Sakura said gently, smiling at the boy and expecting a hell of a lot of kissing to be coming her way.

"Strip." He commanded, making her eyes widen comically.

"What?" She choked out, not sure she heard him right.

"I want to see what you have to offer me. Strip. Show off your ... lovely body."

Sakura blushed and looked at her feet as she shuffled them. _'Sasuke-kun thinks I'm lovely! Score!'_ She nodded jerkily. "A-Alright, Sasuke-kun."

Slowly, Sakura removed her red top, revealing no form of chest wrappings or a bra as she had no need of them, and pink nipples that were already rock hard. Her face was red and her neck and part of her chest flush from the blood rushing to her head. Then she slid down her spandex shorts, revealing herself to be wearing black panties that were soaking wet.

Sasuke reached forward, getting a squawk of surprise form Sakura that turned into a moan and his hand squeezed her right breast, wondering if anything was supposed to pop out or if that was all there was and then playing with her nipple out of sheer curiousity. _'None of the girls in the hot spring were missing theirs,'_ he thought to himself. _'It can't be an age thing. Naruto's bitch has quite the hand full and his other teammate has enough bulge to show she had something. Maybe it pops up like a timer on a turkey?'_

"The rest," Sasuke demanded, deciding he had plenty of time to find out later.

Sakura moaned out her displeasure at her love's hand leaving her, gently rubbing her nipple from the pain his twisting had caused and then shoved down her panties, showing Sasuke his first glimpse of her soaked sex even as dribbles of moisture ran down her inner thighs.

The curious boy once again reached out and squeezed Sakura's wet vagina, making her gasp and jerk in both surprise and pleasure. No one had ever touched her there before in such a manner. And it felt _good_! Even as he shoved a finger in and moved it about, as it was something she did constantly, all she was able to feel were shockwaves of enjoyment running throughout her body before he pulled back his hand with an unreadable expression on his face as he observed the wetness on his fingers and hand.

"Hn," he grunted, realizing it wasn't the girl peeing on herself. "On your knees," he commanded, watching Sakura blush and very slowly lower herself so her knees were on her clothes and look up at him curiously and obviously having a good idea of what she was going to do next.

She was right.

Barely thinking about it, he sat on the ground in front of her, resting his back against a tree and unzipping his pants, pulling out his three-inch erection, watching Sakura gaze at it with wide eyes and feeling no small amount of pride swell within his chest. "Show me how much I mean to you. Make me believe you."

Sakura shuffled closer, gazing at the object of many of her desires. She and Ino had never actually gotten around to taking over his body and neither had really seen it before. But apparently, while it was thicker, Hinata had been telling the truth about its length when she told Ino.

The pink-haired girl took it gently in her hand and lowered herself, showing Sasuke-kun just what he meant to her, but still somewhat glad this happened before they went through physical training. But for Sasuke-kun, she would be willing even if he was covered in dirt and sweat. He meant that much to her.

Sasuke leaned his head back and enjoyed the sensation of his first blowjob. Had he known fangirls would do this for him, and actually serve a purpose in doing it, he would have been doing it for some time now. If one bond could give him the ultimate power, what about several? What he was now feeling was beyond anything else in his life that he had felt for many years. The hot, wet and eager mouth of his most avid fangirl was even better than defeating those weaklings in spars during the Academy. _'This is nice. No wonder the dobe has that bitch play with his. I wonder if he's gotten her to suck it yet. I doubt it. Hn. Loser.'_

"Sakura-chan," Sasuke sighed, looking down at the girl who looked up at him without stopping her wonderful work. "I do believe you. Now swallow this and we can go wait for Kakashi-sensei. You've really relaxed me."

Just as Sakura smiled at him, he erupted with a jerk, making her eyes widen as it shot down her throat and choked her.

_'Yes,'_ he thought as he watched her cough, naked on the forest floor and promising him anything. _'I believe we will do this quite often, my pet.'_

xXxXxXx

Ino grabbed Naruto's hand and squeezed as their practice dummy was led in and chained in the new room they were in. _'Kami... He looks so _normal_!'_ She swallowed thickly as shackles were latched to the man's ankles, which had a long chain led through very heavy metal circles bolted to the ground, and then the chains came back up and were clasped around the man's wrists, then those metal rings were sunk into the ground to pull them taught and keep the man's arms stretched out.

Then another shackle was clasped around the man's neck from another ring on the ceiling that was clasped to another shackled around his waist to ensure he couldn't fall to the ground or hang himself if the interrogation, or interrogation techniques, became too much for him.

Naruto squeezed Ino's hand and smiled warmly at her, feeling her fear and hesitation to go through with this. Then he released her hand and walked in front of the man bound to the room with Hinata and Anko to stare the man down, followed a moment later by Ino after a readying breath.

"Hello scumbag!" Anko said brightly to the man who was glaring at the women in the room, looking their bodies up and down. "These three minions of mine are my Genin team. Today, we're practicing torture and interrogation, so they're going to question you-"

"Fuck off, bitch!" The man screamed. "I won't tell you cunts anything! Bow before me and suck my cock!"

Hinata giggled lightly, smiling at the man who glared at her in response. "Oh, I think you'll tell us everything we want you to. It isn't a matter of 'if', just 'when'." Hinata turned slightly to Naruto and pressed her body up against his, smiling at him and nibbling on his ear. "What do you think, Naruto-kun? Can I break him? Pretty please?"

Naruto had no idea what Hinata was on about, but knew to play along with whatever it was while Anko quirked an eyebrow at the display and Ino stared wide-eyed. Since she was in Morning Hinata mode, which was suitably playful in a kinky way anyway, he would just do as he would in the morning anyway. "I don't know," he mused thoughtfully. "We're all supposed to try at least a little."

"I'll do that thing with my mouth you like each night for a month," Hinata purred, running her hand over Naruto's chest and dipping it to his bellybutton before bringing it back up. "We can even let Anko-sensei watch. I've always wanted to be watched."

"Fucking whore!" The man spat out. "Spreading your legs for that demon!"

"Not yet," Hinata purred, licking Naruto's neck as she looked at the bound man, ensuring he saw it. "I want to try all sorts of dirty things before we work our way up to that. I'm rather fond of his penis and it's rather fond of my mouth, you know. It's my favorite toy." Ino blushed and Anko grinned widely, mentally laughing her ass off as Hinata used Anko's famous torture persona against the criminal. And she was _finally_ hearing some juicy gossip!

Pardoning the pun...

"You fucking whore!" The man spat. "The acts of-BLUGH!"

Naruto, Hinata and even Anko blinked in surprise as Ino's fist connected with the man's face, her own contorted into a furious rage as she shook her hand to ease the pain. "Enough with the whore talk," she grumbled, then grinned as the man spat at her, dodging the blood and spittle as she moved over to the still-hugging pair.

"I say we give Hinata-chan first shot, at least," Ino said, nuzzling Naruto's neck as she looked at Hinata, getting a wink at her actions to tell her she had full permission to play along and her support. "If she fails, then she has to do that thing you like to both of us."

"Jackpot," Naruto muttered before his mind went elsewhere, only to be whacked by a blushing Ino before his mind reenacted Hinata's persuasive argument with both correct girls instead of two Hinata's.

"Work first, play later," Ino scolded, her blush brighter. _'I can't believe I thought playing along with this would be a good idea! Sure it seems to be pissing him off, but damn me if it isn't embarrassing!'_ She spun around to hold onto Naruto's other side as Anko's grinning form moved to the side, just to ensure they didn't go overboard or in case things went wrong some how. Taking up position next to Naruto also allowed him the chance to hug her in the appearance of being affectionate, which really gave her the feeling of safety and security she really, _really_ needed right then. The fact that she enjoyed it was ... meaningless. _'He's just safe and feels peaceful, that's all this is. Feeling safe, peaceful and muscular. That's it. Nothing naughty. Well, not for real. I may tell him I'll do a bunch of stuff, but we aren't going to do that tonight, no matter what we say. He's just got nice arms, that's all!'_

Not aware of Ino's thoughts being about as firm as water, Hinata sauntered up to the prone form of their victim. "Let's start off easy, shall we? You're here and that means you probably did something naughty to deserve torture. But, here we are and we don't know anything about each other! I'm Hinata, this is Naruto-kun and Ino-chan. You may call us Mistress, Master and Mistress for the duration of your stay-"

[Torture Start]

"Fuck you, bitch! I won't-AH!" The man shook in his shackles as Hinata ran a finger down his stretched arm, firing a steady stream of chakra into his arm, causing a massive amount of pain. "Now don't be childish! Next time, it's 'fuck you, _Mistress_' when you're yelling in obscene rage."

Anko barely refrained herself from snorting in laughter, but was finding it harder as the pressure in her lungs from withheld guffaws grew. _'Holy dango on a stick! I love this team! We've got kinky kunoichi out for Naruto's balls everywhere! Wait until Kurenai-chan hears this! No! I can't tell her... She may stop it and then I'll never get to catch them in the act! Hm... how can I set them up to lose their virginities and capture the moment on film for proper blackmail purposes?'_

"Now, let's start with the easy stuff," Hinata continued once she took her finger from the man's arm. There was a reddening rash-like trail where her dainty digit had touched him. "Now, what is your name?"

"Whore! You fu-AHH!"

Hinata followed the same path as before, watching the now dark red line begin to bleed through the unharmed skin. She saw similar bleeding when a woman waxed to remove hair. "I told you to call me Mistress!" Hinata warned as she switched to pure rage instead of playful sadist. "Who am I?"

"M-Mistress," the man said carefully, his left arm, the one with the red line, shaking as pain flared with his heartbeat.

"Good. Now what's your name?"

"Fuh. Fujin," he answered, gulping air as he tried to ignore the pain. "Yumino Fujin."

"Good boy!" Hinata cooed as she clasped her hands together under her chin. She looked far too innocent and happy for what was happening.

"Next," Anko called out, frighteningly pleased with Hinata's style and performance. She couldn't believe the tiny waif of a girl, albeit with a wonderful rack, had taken to using Anko's own unique persona for torture to be the playful, sexual sadist. It was an excellent persona against men. They were generally so ruled by their hormones that they paid as much attention to their bodies or the suggested sexual activities, as they did the questions asked of them, sometimes even more, making them answer because they enjoyed the show. That was one reason Anko showed off so much of her body. In a fight, all men were at least somewhat affected by watching her body or trying to catch glimpses when they could. That was why Anko only wore a fishnet shirt, even if her trenchcoat always, or almost always anyway, covered her breasts.

_'I wonder if I could get them to dress up like me, too,'_ Anko mused to herself. _'Ah, probably not. Kurenai-chan would get angry with me and won't use Big Bob with me.'_

Ino stepped forward when she heard Anko say the next one should step up. She wasn't looking forward to this, but she felt it would be best to get it out of the way now before she watched him get tortured by the others even more first. Right now, she was nervous and feeling sick to her stomach, but it wasn't as bad as it would be if she saw what Naruto would do to the man first.

"I should warn you," Ino said as she paused in front of the glaring man. "I can't do what Hinata-chan did. She has unique abilities that I don't have, so what I have to do to get answers is messier. But, since I'd rather not get your blood in my hair, it's a pain in the ass to wash out you see, I'm going to ask a question before I start to give you a chance to escape the pain. You know why you're here, but I want to hear you say it. So tell me. What did you do to deserve torture?"

The man grinned darkly, looking Ino's body up and down and enjoying the obvious nervousness she displayed, crossing her arms under her chest and leaning back. "I killed whores, demon slut," the man said happily. "I fucked them to cleanse their bodies of the filth from their previous uses so they had a _real_ man and then I choked them to death while I was inside of them so they could die like _real_ women."

As the man's eyes continued to roam over her body, Ino repressed the urge to cover herself and did the first thing that came to mind. She formed a blade of chakra in the air in front of her without so much as a twitch and shot it forward to slash at the man's crotch, keeping it blunt enough to be nothing more than a hard kick to his balls. A hard kick that was all focused on the blunt edge of the blade making it quite painful. "I believe Hinata-chan told you to call us _real_ women 'Mistress'. I suggest not forgetting again or you will lose your _oh-so-manly_ tackle in an explosion of blood and testicle. Understand?" She asked sweetly, fluttering her eyelashes.

The man glared at Ino for a moment before grinding out between clinched teeth, "Yes, Mistress."

"Good. Now, any man who would kill women with such pride probably kept count. How many did you kill?" Ino asked, staring into the man's eyes. It was the best way to know what he was leering at.

"Twenty-three whores," Fujin said with a fond smile. He was proud of his work. "I only wish I was still able to continue."

"Why did you kill them?" Ino asked, readying another blob of chakra. This man was really pissing her off and she was ready to just blast his balls into oblivion on principle alone. Well, principle and because he wouldn't stop staring at her body.

Fujin smiled at Ino, letting out a wheezing laugh as he strained against his shackles to reach the blonde girl. "I'll never tell," he answered in a sing-song voice.

The blob of chakra Ino had been maintaining by her shoulder shot forward to impact into the man's left shoulder, making him cry out in pain as his limbs were spread out and he rocked back and forth, unable to actually fall down. "Why did you kill those women?" Ino asked with more force.

_'Careful girlie,'_ Anko thought to herself. _'Don't lose your cool or you lose control and give power back to them.'_

"I'll never tell why," the man sing-songed again, letting his head roll and laughing.

"Next," Anko called out, giving Ino a chance to growl and step beside Hinata while Naruto came forward.

"Ah yes. Our resident ... demon," Fujin sneered, glaring at Naruto. "I bet you've just been waiting for a reason to torture us humans." He glanced at the girls and grinned before turning back to Naruto. "Do your whores know what you _really_ are?"

Hinata, who could hear everything just as the others could since noise was amplified by the concrete walls and floor, couldn't help but giggle. "You mean that he's got the Kyuubi sealed inside of him? Oh, we know. But he's also got an absolutely _huge_ cock that I love to suck on," she purred, overacting getting aroused and clutching to Ino's arm as she breathed deeply. "Sweet Kami... that stamina and an inability to wear him out... they should seal demons inside of every man."

As Fujin opened his mouth to yell at Hinata, Naruto's hand swiped out and backhanded the bound victim. "I don't play games," Naruto grunted. "You will not look or address them. You will answer my questions. You will not fuck about. Why did you kill those women?"

"Fuck you, demo-AH!" Fujin screamed in unholy agony as Naruto's hand found its way to his stomach and simply rested there. But what the others couldn't see, even Hinata as she didn't have her Byakugan active, was that Naruto was using the very first stage of his Rasengan training to spin his chakra inside the man's gut, twisting and pressing on his organs and intestines lightly, which was excruciatingly painful.

Five long seconds of constant screaming later, Naruto removed his hand. Dripping down Fujin's pant legs was a tepid yellow liquid and based on the strong scent of feces now in the air, he had been unable to control his bowels. "I'll ask one more time before I get upset and losing your pride by shitting and pissing yourself will be the least of your worries. Why did you kill those women?"

"Fuh-fuck you, d-AH!"

Naruto placed his hand gently onto Fujin's stomach and once again caused excruciating pain to the man, this time for ten seconds. By the eight second mark, Ino had rushed behind the screaming Fujin and thrown up the contents of her stomach. Having a very slight understanding of the psychology of torture and interrogation, he knew not to show concern for her at the moment. Fujin couldn't see her and she was no longer making noises he would be concerned with. "I am now giving you your last chance. Why?"

[Torture End]

"Th-they reminded me of my sister," Fujin admitted, coughing up blood and not wanting the devil's hands on him again. "She r-raised me after our parents died. She always brought m-men to our home and s-spread her legs for them like any other _whore_," he explained, his rage rebuilding as he lost himself to his own story.

"It wasn't long before she started selling _me_ to them to make more money. Letting them do things to me ... vile, unspeakable things. 'If I can do it, you can do it too,' she told me. 'I can take two in that hole at once! Take it like a man and stop bitching!' she screamed. Always telling me to be a real man."

"Where are you from?" Naruto asked, keeping his voice firm even though he sympathized for the man's past. It was a shitty one, but not unheard of. Sometimes, people didn't care what they fucked, so long as they got off while doing it.

"I moved here when I was fourteen," Fujin grumbled. "The town didn't have a name. Just a permanent trading post. We had a lot of travelers," he finished evilly.

Anko was pleased with her charges' actions. They played off of each other well in the beginning and maintained their own unique styles for interrogating their prisoner. Granted, Hinata's was similar to her own, which was interesting since they admitted to having never done this in the past or worked with her for it. Well, their past, her future. Still, she was impressed with them. Even Ino handled things well despite tossing up her breakfast. Few people, especially decent ones, held back enough to do that where their prisoner couldn't see them. The evil bastards usually enjoyed this kind of work.

Surprisingly, Naruto was like a blonde little Ibiki, which made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside. She was sure the scarred Jounin had watched this whole thing, not usually getting an opportunity to look for future interrogators or seeing them in action. From her own experience, all three had a possible future in the field. Despite not being able to stomach the man's screaming, Ino was still able to get information and without really having to do anything serious.

"Alright minions," Anko called out. "We've got the information we want. Congratulations. Now let's get out of here."

xXxXxXx

"You may enter now, Mitarashi-san," the secretary told Anko, letting the purple-haired woman into the Hokage's office. She had led her minions to the Hokage Tower and told them they could rest easy that night because neither she or Kurenai would attack them because of their recently-finished training, having to promise three times she wasn't trying to lull them into a false sense of security. She was actually kind of proud that they knew her well enough to realize that could have been a trick while being a little upset that she had become that predictable. Still, their training for that day was all canceled, giving them the rest of the day off for their own devices. Partly because they _were_ still young, at least Ino was, and second, so she could take care of this little problem.

"Ah, Anko. How can I help you?" Hiruzen asked. "Was there something wrong with the their training today?" Sarutobi had been a little reluctant to allow Anko to take her kids to receive their first opportunity to torture, but he had to have faith and trust in his Jounin to lead their Genin properly and know what they could handle. Even if two of them were seven years older, mentally.

"No sir, nothing wrong. They all actually did really well with it. Things didn't even have to get messy," Anko answered with a grin. What could she say? She was proud of them.

"Excellent to hear. So what can I assist you with?"

"First, have you found anything out about that ANBU?"

"No, I'm afraid I haven't," Sarutobi sighed. "I've got Kurenai looking the information up since I chose to not allow anyone else to get close enough to find out what may have happened. She tried to get out of it, but conceded the point that we didn't want anything about this getting out for now."

"I was wondering why she seemed so depressed," Anko pondered aloud before getting back on track. "Anyway, I had a little dissension among the ranks I wanted to take care of."

"What happened?" Sarutobi asked solemnly, his face falling into one of long-suffering.

"I was just making an example of things, but I explained that if I ever had to order them to sleep with the enemy or something to that effect, they would do it, and Naruto and Hinata threatened to kill me if I tried. They also promised to do the same for Ino, but she was too spooked to make her own response, I think. But that kind of insubordination could be deadly out in the field and I wanted to know what you thought of it before I chose to take corrective action."

"Anko, we do not force our Genin to do that," Sarutobi said with a slight frown.

"Yes we do," Anko snorted as she rolled her eyes. "You just do it to girls who have no family or who were willing to be used for that in order to get the money it brings if they survive it if they didn't have the capability to become real kunoichi."

Sarutobi sighed. While it was true, it was also something that was taboo to discuss in any setting save the ANBU mission hall where those particular missions were assigned. He activated several security seals on his desk that put up a silencing seal around the office and that set up an electrical field to stop all currently-known forms of spy tech before continuing. "Anko, with both Naruto and Hinata absorbing some of the Kyuubi and merging as they have, it is very possible that attempting to force any woman Naruto claims as his could very well result in death. I know Hinata-san is willing to allow other women based on your reports, but that is only with Naruto himself. If I am honest, I think it is safe to say that attempting to force what could effectively be 'his' women into sleeping with the enemy could prove to be disastrous."

"They threatened to kill me," Anko said simply. "That doesn't say 'possible danger' to you?"

"Has it happened any time other than when you basically said you may tell them to sleep with the enemy?" Hiruzen asked curiously. To be honest, he was somewhat curious about their development.

Anko thought about it before answering and had to admit, they really weren't likely to run around threatening to kill people. "Nothing more than playful banter," she finally admitted.

"Are you worried about it in any way?" The aged Hokage asked. "Have they done anything, anything at all, that we have to worry about or that hints that they are a threat to anyone who isn't labeled an enemy?"

"No," Anko sighed immediately. "I'm not here because I am worried that they are going to attack or kill me, but because there is a point as ninja and kunoichi where we have to do things we don't like or despise ourselves for doing. As kunoichi, our bodies are very often used for our missions' end goals, oftentimes by spreading our legs. But if they start fighting mine or Kurenai's authority, how far will it go? And what if that comes up at a time where we can't have it happening?"

Anko leaned back into a chair as she slumped down into it. "I'm here because of their unique circumstances and punishment _must_ be given, but I wanted your opinion, first, since you know about those circumstances and how far we should be willing to take it."

"I understand," the old man said. "They must realize they cannot fight your authority, but at the same time, _you_ must realize that they are not the usual shinobi and that they cannot be treated just like any others. If you feel they should be reminded of their station, I will approve under the knowledge that you are their Jounin sensei and know them as well as anyone else, if not better. And probably the latter. So what would you like to do?"

Anko sighed, hating what she had to admit. She was so looking forward to a good butt-whooping. "They haven't actually done anything, yet. But, considering the girls are clan heiresses, and better safe than sorry, I'll at least make sure we never do that to them. But I still need to do something that shows they have to obey me and Kurenai."

Ever so slowly, a grin that most of Konoha was familiar with and many even ran away from grew on Anko's face. This was the same smile Naruto had seen several weeks ago and had compared to the same one she wore as she used a suicide technique just to take one of Orochimaru's arm.

"I'm hiring Team Eight for a mission," she began. "In four days when our camping is over, I want to get sent to Kiyoko Pass."

"The hot spring resort?" Sarutobi asked in confusion.

"Yea. I'm also hiring two female ANBU to go out ASAP to plant false information for my team to find. But instead of the whole team, it'll be a ... team project."

xXxXxXx

"I think you should talk to her," Hinata told Naruto quietly. The two had been outside of the tent and working on the leaf exercise for their secondary elemental affinities, but Ino had begged off working on hers and had stayed in the tent after she brushed her teeth to get rid of the taste of vomit.

"Me? Why not you? You're both girls. Wouldn't she feel more comfortable with you?" Naruto asked.

"She's uncomfortable because of what we did and I think mostly about what you did," Hinata explained. "Even though this is a different time, you know how to talk to her much better than I do. We've talked, but it's not the same. How about we both go?"

"I can live with that," he responded. "I mean, I know we're friends like before, but it isn't _really_ like before. We're friends, but not as close yet."

"Give it time. Also, to help out with that, I'd like you to begin taking a more proactive role in trying to get her to join us," she said before opening the tent and finding Ino with her knees pulled up and resting her chin on them. "Are you okay Ino-chan?"

"I'm fine," Ino said quietly.

Naruto and Hinata sat next to her and wrapped their arms around her shoulders and waist, feeling her shaking. It surprised them a little when Ino pulled away from Naruto slightly.

"Are you scared of me, Ino-chan?" Naruto asked, feeling vulnerable, despite his years of experience and the things he's been up against.

Ino didn't respond immediately, but after a few seconds, she shook her head. "You just ... put your hand on him and he screamed. He screamed like his soul was being tortured," she answered quietly.

Hinata grabbed Naruto's hand and placed it on Ino's belly gently, letting his palm rest flat against her. "Does Naruto-kun's touch hurt you, Ino-chan?"

"No."

Hinata moved her eyes to look at Naruto, sending a silent message. Some part of him seemed to know exactly what she wanted without her having to say it. Like an impression of action trying to tell him what to do. _**'Not too far, but make her feel safe again.'**_

Slowly, Naruto moved his hand up, lifting just enough to let his fingers trail over her chest between her breasts to lightly stroke her neck. "Does my touch cause you pain, Ino-chan?" He asked, lightly smirking as he saw goosebumps raise on her neck were his finger touched her.

"N-no," she responded, closing her eyes even as Hinata's hands rose to gently tilt Ino's head towards her and move her hair off of her shoulder.

Naruto leaned in and kissed Ino's neck gently and slowly, letting his tongue touch before his lips. "Do my lips hurt you?"

Ino sighed heavily in a shaky breath, tilting her head further to give him better access. "No," she whispered quietly.

Naruto gently turned Ino's head to face him, looking into her eyes that stared at him, questioning him. "Do you trust me, Ino-chan?"

"I do," she breathed out, not even aware she was speaking.

Naruto leaned in and kissed her gently on the mouth, moving his hand to her neck to hold her gently and savoring her lips as she kissed him back, mewling lightly as she let him steal her first true kiss with a man.

Hinata smiled as Ino's arms wrapped around Naruto's neck and leaned into the other blonde.

Naruto pulled back and smiled at Ino. She looked to Hinata, worried that she had just kissed her boyfriend, but only received a warm smile and a hug in return, making her feel at ease. "I will never hurt you, Ino-chan. Well, other than when we spar," he said, smiling sheepishly. "If I ever cause you to feel something, I hope to only make it pleasure and happiness."

Ino blushed, releasing Naruto from her arms and putting them in her lap as she looked down. "I ... I wasn't scared of you. I'm just ... overwhelmed. I mean, you have this history with me that I never experienced. And you're so friendly with me because you were friendly with that Ino, but what if I don't turn out like her?"

"I hope not," Naruto said with a soft snort, making Ino look at him in shock. "Er, I mean she was strong and powerful, but you have the potential to get a lot stronger. You're not physically as strong or fast, but you're almost as good as you were three years from now in our history."

"Really?" Ino asked, not sure how to take that. "Was I really that weak before?"

"Please don't mistake what we're telling you," Hinata said, keeping her arms wrapped around Ino and resting her chin on the blonde's shoulder. "You were a part of a team that worked well together, but individually, you weren't strong because you didn't train much and the whole team enjoyed lazing about. You're training your ass off now and you're getting damn good. We're proud to have you with us."

Ino smiled, putting an arm around their waists with a smile. "I guess I'm just a part of a better team this time."

"We like to think so," Naruto said, grinning widely.

"So, did you guys learn how to do that in the future? The torture stuff?" She asked.

"No," Hinata answered. "We didn't learn anything about it then. This was our first time."

"Oh," Ino said. "I'm sorry I ... reacted like I did."

"Don't worry about it," Naruto dismissed easily. "We've seen far worse, so we're used to it. Not causing that kind of stuff, but you know what I mean," he trailed off, annoyed to have disrupted the healing atmosphere by talk of the darker side of a shinobi's life.

"Do you want to train your elemental affinity with us?" Hinata asked.

"Can we go to the lake instead?" Ino suggested. "It's about lunch time, but I'm not really hungry after our morning. I figure we can work up an appetite and then go."

"Sure," Naruto agreed. "But we may not be able to stick around. The ANBU have begun using it again for some reason."

"Maybe we shouldn't risk it for now, then," Ino said, changing her mind. Really, all she wanted was to spend time with her team alone, but they could stay there and get that, most likely. "Let's go ahead and do our elemental training. I'd like to learn that anyway."

"Are you sure you still feel comfortable around me?" Naruto asked, again, really wanting to be sure he hadn't scared her.

Ino turned to look at Naruto and smiled warmly. She leaned in and kissed him gently on the lips, feeling like it would answer him better than saying anything would. Especially since he kissed her earlier. "What do you think?" She then got up and exited the tent, wondering what was getting into her. She had never been one for gestures of affection like that. But constantly receiving them from her teammates like this, especially being on the receiving end of more than simple kisses, had made her actually ... _desire_ that affection. And, while she didn't want them to know, Naruto having just taken her lips and kissing her did more to turn her on than any singular thing in quite some time. She could feel her panties were already thoroughly soaked.

Hinata giggled. "Yes, my conversion of her is nearly complete," she said quietly, knocking Naruto over and kissing him hard, taking his hand and squashing it against her chest. "I don't want to force her to make a decision, but I don't want her to regress. Let's keep up the kissing and work on trying to get her to accept more training like before and we'll see where it goes, okay?"

"You're awfully frisky for coming straight from interrogation," Naruto said with a grin and a raised eyebrow.

"I am looking forward to being together, all three of us," Hinata explained, kissing him quickly and getting up while straightening her clothes. "I'm just looking forward to it because it seems to be happening. Now let's go teach her how to put a spark in her step!"

"Hey! Only I'm allowed to make bad jokes around here!"

"Then catch me and stop me," Hinata said, waggling her bottom quickly and darting out of the tent.

xXxXxXx

**[A/N:]** - Next Chapter! "It Puts the Lotion on Its Skin..."

Hokage: "We've been receiving reports of masticated human remains. We are assigning you to find out what is happening."

Anko: "We're investigating a bunch of wild animal attacks? Wolves? Bears? What?"

Hokage: "No. All evidence suggests all victims were eaten by other humans."


	11. It Puts the Lotion on Its Skin

**Title:** Reforging The Past

**Chapter11 – **It Puts the Lotion on Its Skin...

**Ship:** Naruto/Hina, Naru/Harem, Naru/Hina/Ino/FemHaku/FemKyuu, Anko/Kurenai

**Warnings:** Nudity, Torture, Murder, Graphic Violence, Adult Language, Adult Situations, Masturbation, Oral Sex, Rough Sex

**Author:** Paladeus

**Key:** "Speech", **"Demonic Speech"**, _'Thought'_, _**'Demonic Thought'**_

xXxXxXx

**[A/N:]** **WARNING** – The first lemon scene of this chapter is between Sakura and Sasuke. It is not a loving scene. It did not end quickly and she did not enjoy it. Search for "Lemon Start" or "Lemon End" as needed for all lemons. The ones thereafter will be pleasant/loving/enjoyable for those involved. Remember, anything graphic will be labeled. There will be very short bits that are not (seeing as this IS meant to be a highly sexualized story and not everything is graphic.)

In response to several people asking, Team Eight will have two more original arcs before the Wave mission (big arcs/missions) and probably one or two more bonding experiences (depending on if one of them fits properly where I have it planned) that will be in the middle of those. Then, the Wave arc comes about, but isn't a Canon clone. So, 3-4 more chapters (one more to finish this arc, then possibly 2 for the next mission, one interlude if it is too long to fit in the next few chapters, and then Wave.

This was broken in half due to length.

**If someone wants to tell me how sick and disgusting I am for a _MILD_ yuri scene, I highly advise not proclaiming your love of yaoi and male impregnation on your profile. Hypocrisy does not suit well to flaming and ruins any valid arguments you may have (in this case, there wasn't even an argument). Especially when you admit to not even reading the scene and saying it was horrible. I may not like reading yaoi, but I support a person's right to read/write it and do not flame for it. I DO, however, wish FFN would have a gay/lesbian tag, or gender-bender, so we could sift through those things.**

I normally wouldn't call them out like this, but this is just pathetic. Their review (by "dhh"):

dhh  
2010-12-26 . chapter 10

THE WHOLE lesbian scene was so disgusting and gross..!

I don't care if you say skip over it or whatever but just knowing that the two did whatever they did is enough for me to PUKE!

You sick dude!

The first paragraph of their profile as of 12/26, verbatim:

_Well, I have to say, I've been at for years but haven't actually gotten an account until recently, as one could see by the date..I'm into Slash/Yaoi stories and many more..I'm extremely interested in Mpreg and stories that are actually well written and lengthy..The longer the better, that's my philosophy.._

Thank you for being a hypocritical bastard. Thank you everyone else for being pretty awesome.

**Recommended Story of the Chapter:** "Eroninja" by The Lemon Sage (Naruto/Huge Harem – Basically, a story wherein the plot actually explains why the harem is used and needed. Mostly, it's a plot around a lot of smut. Legal age for your area only, please. - Ino/Hinata/Tsunade/Yugao/Hana/Tsume/Fu/Tayuya/many others)

**xXx** – Previously – **xXx**

"_Are you sure you still feel comfortable around me?" Naruto asked, again, really wanting to be sure he hadn't scared her._

_Ino turned to look at Naruto and smiled warmly. She leaned in and kissed him gently on the lips, feeling like it would answer him better than saying anything would. Especially since he kissed her earlier. "What do you think?" She then got up and exited the tent, wondering what was getting into her. She had never been one for gestures of affection like that. But constantly receiving them from her teammates like this, especially being on the receiving end of more than simple kisses, had made her actually ... desire that affection. And, while she didn't want them to know, Naruto having just taken her lips and kissing her did more to turn her on than any singular thing in quite some time. She could feel her panties were already thoroughly soaked._

_Hinata giggled. "Yes, my conversion of her is nearly complete," she said quietly, knocking Naruto over and kissing him hard, taking his hand and squashing it against her chest. "I don't want to force her to make a decision, but I don't want her to regress. Let's keep up the kissing and work on trying to get her to accept more training like before and we'll see where it goes, okay?"_

"_You're awfully frisky for coming straight from interrogation," Naruto said with a grin and a raised eyebrow._

**xXx** – STORY – **xXx**

Hinata spun on her heel over the pond in her family's garden swiftly, using her chakra to manipulate the water like a giant ribbon. In an attempt at reacquiring her water affinity control to the same degree as she had before coming back in time, the bluenette girl had taken to training with water each morning while the moon was still in the sky and well before dawn broke. Her secondary affinity, which she had apparently acquired from time-traveling, was beginning to seep into any form of elemental techniques she attempted, causing them to become shaky and occasionally unstable, even if she was attempting to use a water jutsu. Water and lightning just didn't mix.

It was apparently the same thing with Naruto, only his began getting a tendency to blow up in his face as more fire added itself to his wind element. For whatever reason, the two elements wanted to combine. Well, that was not exactly true. They didn't combine. They both attempted to be the dominate elemental nature in their arsenal. Neither could explain it, but Hinata had expressed it as closely as either had been able. It was like their usual chakra was turning _into_ the elemental chakras instead of remaining non-affiliated with any element. While her fear at that realization had her testing both of them with every medical technique she knew, it was found that, thankfully, that was not the case. Still, as much as that relieved them, it also worried them since they still had no idea why it was happening. It was like their usual chakra was a vacuum that tried to suck in one of those elements

So, she and Naruto were both learning that they had to actively keep _both_ elements from seeping into their non-elemental jutsu, and had to regulate both so they didn't affect their elemental ones adversely. All of that incredible boost in their control was beginning to wane not due to a lack of that control, but because they were beginning to have to do more things at once, hence the extreme and immediate need to train before the problem got too much worse and impossible to stay ahead of it to start with. They were still trying to figure out what it meant to have their elemental affinities creep into non-elemental jutsu, but thus far, were coming up empty.

She had originally planned on working on her affinities elsewhere, but there was really no point in it since she wasn't trying to hide her apparent newfound abilities from her family. And it would do well for them to see what appeared to be a massive growth in skill and capability while they thought Naruto was the primary purpose of it. It kept them from jabbering on and on about how much of a disgrace it was to associate with him.

It was even true, technically speaking. She gained these abilities this early in time because of Naruto. If it hadn't been for him, and his furry cargo, she would still be a shy, introverted girl who was terrified by any form of confrontation and masturbated furiously to the thought of her golden-haired lover rather than let him do the work for her.

Devoted boyfriends were great like that.

But, it was more than her water affinity she was working on that kept her on the pond. It was her chakra control. She and Naruto had been noticing that, while their control was far higher than it had ever been for either of them still, it was steadily declining, the elemental situation not withstanding. Apparently, merging with the Kyuubi allowed the demoness to constantly increase their chakra stores, which just as constantly lowered their control.

Daily chakra control training was now a must for the two time-travelers. Otherwise, they would be hard pressed to regain whatever ground they would lose. Taking at least two hours a day to work only on that kept them about equal to their growth, minus the variation required to keep their affinities from mixing, which generally left them requiring an additional hour every other day just to keep up to par. Naturally, they devoted one whole day to control of the elemental kind, which supported all of their needs, thus taking that time down and allowing them to advance. At least, that was the hope. They had considered using clones for that, specifically, but decided to wait since they wanted to work on it themselves.

Still, by controlling her ribbon of water and constantly making it longer, she worked on both pressing issues at once while performing what Naruto called a mesmerizing dance of grace and beauty that had her constantly speeding her movements up, trying to gain speed and flexibility that surpassed her already impressive levels, though Naruto would freely admit he simply enjoyed watching. Her speed still wasn't much to brag about, being only a little greater than the same point in her past, but the latter had always been something truly remarkable to anyone other than contortionists, who trained their bodies to fold up in half and even into loops. Hinata was more focused on training her chakra control than she was her body until the changes from the Kyuubi were mostly done and caught up with Naruto. With her body and mind changing constantly, she didn't want to add any undo stress that could negatively affect her, even if she was keeping tabs on her health herself.

And it was under the moonlight and cavorting around over the pond like a water nymph from legends in a dance that left Naruto mesmerized that Hanabi stared in awe at her older sister, unable to believe she was witnessing something that looked as though it had come right out of a book about magic.

Not that she would ever admit to having such a silly children's book squirreled away in her room.

The young Hyuuga was hiding in the bushes, using her own Byakugan to its currently limited ability to watch her older sister control the water in a dance that left the tiny child breathless. The water would snake around Hinata to form various beautiful designs before it suddenly seemed to form a solid shape and then it burst outwards to rain down glowing white droplets that reflected the moonlight, only for an orb of glowing water to form around her and then the whole thing started again.

Eventually, Hinata raised her hands above her head and the water that formed a shape around her shot outwards and all of the little droplets stilled around her, not moving at all. Then, the older Hyuuga walked gracefully from the surface of the water and onto the land, the droplets slowly drifting away as she walked, moved by her passage and most not sticking to her clothing.

"Can I help you, Hanabi?" Hinata asked, picking up a shirt she had set aside to go over her skintight one she had been wearing. She preferred the nude training she had originally done, which Naruto loved to watch, but she wasn't about to let someone get a free show when she knew she was watched each night. The Byakugan didn't show details like color or flesh, but was basically a glowing system of chakra surrounded by what looked like a slightly gray blob in the shape of a human where living chakra lived in the cells. While clothed, those who watched could see nothing more than what appeared to be a mannequin, thus taking away any eroticism from peeping.

Though you could still tell outlines, which she took advantage of when Naruto was showering. Something very few non-Hyuuga knew was that the more fertile and virile a man was, the more his lower appendage would glow from the power of the chakra coursing through it. To her eyes, it was like a beacon shining in the darkness.

Which had been a part of her problem in approaching him during the Academy their first time through. Any time she had tried, she couldn't help but think of a moth to a flame. Even though she knew she was always trying to get closer anyway.

Shamefaced, and more than a little embarrassed to have been caught, the little girl rose, looking between Hinata and the droplets still in the air and back, her Byakugan now turned off. "Wh-what were you doing?"

Hinata pulled on a pair of pants to go over her tight shorts and released her hold over the chakra in the water, allowing the drops to fall. "My main elemental affinity is water," Hinata explained, stretching as she spoke, enjoying the dull ache in her body. "To practice that, I manipulate the water to follow my lead, causing the ribbon to form and move, making it follow the path and not stray until I finish whatever dance form I chose to make around me, then I release it. Maintaining the whole thing at once requires a great deal of control, thus allowing me to work both on my affinity and actual control. Not to mention my reserves."

Hanabi was silent a moment as she looked at the ripples in the koi pond. "And the drops of water?"

"A variation of the leaf floating exercise," Hinata stated, curious about her sister's lack of hostility and sudden curiousity. For a surprising moment, Hanabi actually appeared like any other little girl her age. She had refused to be anywhere near Hinata since the Academy students went to the forest and seemed even more scared of Hinata after that than after being defeated in their spar. She actually sounded like a curious little girl at the moment, intriguing the older sister. "By forming the water droplets in the air, I have to maintain their place with dozens or hundreds of droplets instead of a single leaf. But I also have to keep their shape and when I walk through them, I have to make sure they don't stick to me or get soaked up by my clothing by using a variation of water walking to keep the surface tension high enough to not stick, though I'm not too good at that, yet. My secondary affinity is lightning, so I'm working on a version of this that allows me to store a charge in the droplets to make them glow for a potential jutsu set in the future."

Hinata's answers were all direct and concise and she didn't speak with her usual soft, loving tones that had usually been held reserved for Hanabi in the past. That, along with their history over the last few months seemed to put the younger girl off, causing her to shrink back a touch, slump her shoulders and try not to look Hinata in the eye. For some reason that Hanabi couldn't understand, all of the lessons instilled upon her by her father and her teachers on how to hold herself and show the classic Hyuuga stoicism seemed to fail her. "O-oh."

A small part of Hinata that had long ago stopped caring about her little sister, or so she had thought, awoke in that moment and made itself known, causing Hinata to remember that she had actually loved this little girl once. Before her father had taken over her training and enforced strict forms of conduct due to the first stages of the war heating up again. That was the girl Hinata had stopped caring for, as the little sister she had loved was no longer within the body.

But she was right there, alive and ready to be guided towards a different path.

Hinata found herself smiling genuinely at Hanabi, a spark of her old affections returning. "Come. Let's see if you can walk on water yet. I've got a half hour before I need to be at Naruto-kun's and can get there in five. I'll start you on a new training schedule you can either ignore or do it on your own time," she said, wrapping her arm around Hanabi and guiding her by the shoulder.

Hanabi was confused. Confused and a little leery of Hinata being so close. But, when the kind and caring older sister she had always looked down upon for being so weak was gone, she had realized how much all of those little words, words which she only heard from Hinata, had actually meant. The Hyuuga head just never said 'I love you' and the Cadet branch would only say it if ordered. But ... Hanabi missed it. She never realized before how lonely she was without Hinata in her life. And only because she was scared of her older sister, did she not throw off the older girl's partial embrace. And because of that, she found herself leaning into it slightly, wondering at how ... nice ... it felt.

"Now," Hinata began as the two got to the center of the pond, "you don't need have a water affinity to use your chakra to manipulate the shape, though this will help you create that affinity. That's what we're going to be doing until you can do this," she trailed off as a small horse rose from the water's surface. It was the shape and size of a newborn foal and acted just like one, getting its balance and taking its first few tentative steps before letting out a whinny that sounded like a waterfall and then trotting forward, growing wings and taking off into the sky and dispersing into mist that glittered in the burgeoning light as it got out of Hinata's thirty-foot control area.

A second form rose gracefully from the water, this time taking the crude form of a woman that danced and cavorted upon the surface like the most talented dancer Hanabi had ever seen. No human dancer could slowly float along in the air. It was surreal the way the female water person danced over to Hanabi, only to lovingly caress her cheek and leave a chilled spot on her forehead where it had kissed her.

"I ... I don't have nearly enough chakra for that," Hanabi admitted as the figure disappeared beneath the surface, somehow making the younger Hyuuga feel she would never again meet the liquid beauty. She actually wondered how Hinata had the chakra, especially after having already been working on her chakra control and having been finished a few minutes ago.

"You won't be doing that. If you're worried about how much chakra you can use, you can do this with any source of liquid. Standing on water simply helps with your control and reserves, but does little for the actual exercise. I would actually recommend using this as a learning method to begin drinking tea. It's what I did, and if you make a glob you can float into your mouth, then you can do it later with more complex shapes, eventually making little Naru- er, animals march into it," Hinata suggested, blushing as she admitted to having made water versions of Naruto she could ... eat. Granted, it was more the shape of a glowing beacon rather than his face... She had _really _missed him those three years. "For now, I'm just going to get you started in learning to put your chakra into the water and pull some out so you can learn to manipulate it on your own for now. The hardest part is making the water mix with your chakra so it follows your control."

Hinata did so, spending the next twenty minutes and teaching Hanabi to pull up a small blob about the size of a ball of dango. It wasn't exactly a ball and its form was about as steady as Jiraiya's relationships, but she was able to make it come out of the pond.

"Very good!" Hinata praised happily. "I want you to play with that on your own and you can come back if you want more help. You'll know you've mastered this step enough for the next one when you can keep the ball in place and stay in the shape of a ball. For now, it's off to Naruto-kun's."

Hinata ran quickly to her room to get her daily supplies and growled in the back of her throat as she realized her kunoichi chest wrap was getting too tight again and that training with Hanabi kept her from taking her usual bath. _'Oh well. I'll just take one with Naruto-kun or before him.'_ With a lecherous smile, she grabbed a change of clothes and left quickly, leaving it up to whether or not he was already there when she got there if he'd get a surprise during his shower or not while a clone rushed off to complete its own little quest.

xXxXxXx

"Got it!" Naruto exclaimed happily, dancing around in a circle before plopping down and writing a fresh and clean copy of his new seal in regular ink. He had been up all night after a clone that had apparently been alive since the Akimichi food run mission dispersed, giving Naruto all of its ideas and thoughts. It knew it wouldn't be around long enough to complete the seal, so didn't bother leaving unfinished work somewhere for someone to find. Instead, it did the grunt work of deciding the seal work that would be needed and what could work in a logical manner for exactly what it was wanting to accomplish, deciding on the best possible means.

And that was what Naruto had just accomplished.

Naruto had always been relatively poor. While not really the case now, what with two S-class missions under his belt, one of which was ongoing and paid as much in a month as he would normally get paid in almost a year, but Naruto knew what he worked with. He used scavenged equipment, mostly looted from enemies he'd killed later in life or found carelessly left behind at a training ground towards the beginning. His only tools were those weapons that were not consumable and paid for themselves over time.

Otherwise, he'd have had a big, flashy sword the first chance he got. Or a really awesome outfit that was so gaudy, he'd be lucky not to blind _himself_. Such was the case with a young boy's fashion sense with a heroism complex.

Not that he wasn't _still_ interested in that helmet with the wings on either side...

Soldier pills were not conducive to an orphan's food budget. They were expensive and one-time-use only. He had even heard they were dangerous to use, which was true if you overindulged or were in bad shape. And it was a well-founded fear that one could become addicted to the initial rush of power and feeling of invincibility that came with it. That was why you had to be a ninja to get your hands on them and why they were considered highly restricted, and even illegal, in a civilian's possession outside of duty to a shinobi. If a civilian with no ties to shinobi-work or business was found in possession of such an item, they could expect a fate as bad as Naruto could if the Hyuuga elders thought Hinata were pregnant. It was a B-A-D situation! Too many females wanted them for dieting, apparently, and too many young boys felt they were the Yondaime reborn just as Hyuuga Hiashi seemed baby-phobic.

However, Naruto knew the enemies he would later be facing and knew he needed to have a way to balance the scales in any fights with them, especially if he screwed things up and things got worse. While coming back in time gave him a wonderful jutsu arsenal, much of it was all but forbidden from use for various reasons. At least for now. And while any increases in strength, speed, endurance, agility and even basic effectiveness were great, they had come from almost nothing due to poor training and neglect. This body he was currently in was effectively only barely into the Chuunin range, physically speaking. And that was a hopeful estimate, basing his growth from weights and daily exercise that surpassed anything he'd done before at this point in time. He was stronger, faster and halfway decent at Taijutsu, but that was all in thanks to Maito Gai and getting pounded to a pulp by Rock Lee.

Relentless and ruthless slave drivers, both of 'em, but they were willing to work with Naruto when he had almost nothing in regards to fighting speed and strength or even effective taijutsu. While he knew the forms, he hadn't been familiar enough with his body any longer to make the proper stances and those two had literally pounded it into his head.

The only things on Naruto's side were unreal chakra levels, naturally fast running speed by outrunning pranked ANBU and Chuunin and it being the one thing he could train on his own despite what the Academy teachers would do to sabotage him and decent control over his chakra that was waning almost constantly and a regeneration factor that allowed him to keep taking hits. Lots and lots of hits.

Hopefully, this would remedy that, at least in part.

The idea was a simple one. Soldier pills converted physical body components into energy, usually the fatty tissue of the body since it was literally stored energy. That was the real benefit of the Akimichi clan's style and the reason for their girth. Also, if there was no fatty tissue, it broke down the body itself to make that energy, weakening bones, deteriorating muscles and possibly weakening internal organs to give the taker the chakra he or she needed to continue fighting or to keep moving. By chemically boosting the metabolism to something around two hundred times, depending on the individual, temporarily, the consumer of the pill gained a sudden surge of chakra as the body digested itself for that energy.

Well, Naruto didn't actually _have_ any fat on his body that he could spare! And you could only take a few soldier pills before you reached toxic levels of the ingredients needed. While his healing factor could generally take care of the latter, his dietary habits could see him dead with the former since he didn't eat enough of the things the body needed to grow properly.

So ... why not skip all that other stuff and just give you straight chakra? The Naruto clone who had seen the Akimichi food pills, like all the others, could think on its own and everything from the moment of its creation caused it to think of different things, not the least of which was why he was created just to basically die soon like all clones. It wasn't that they felt they wanted to live on or take Naruto's place. At least not usually. It was just that they felt just like the real Naruto and were intimately aware of the end of their own existence. That was why his clones would get up to mischievous antics when left alone or when their duties were finished. It wasn't like they had much else to deal with or do, and they didn't really feel like real people since they knew they weren't, so it was more a constant state of awareness of the end of their existence, and then a desire to do the things Naruto always wanted to do when they didn't have to disperse right away. When they weren't in the middle of a battle, that usually meant they looked back on life to wonder what they had accomplished and how they wished they could do some things differently. Most people would even be surprised by just how philosophical Naruto had really become during his time training with Jiraiya.

One such difference over his life was in how to be stronger and a more effective ninja, since protecting the true Naruto was what they felt had to live on, feeling they, themselves, were more like expendable or regenerating appendages and his growth, life and strength was their ultimate reason to be. That was basically all Naruto cared about in his life outside of his relationships with the various people in his life. He wanted to be Hokage to protect those important to him, and they were important because he cared for them.

And that led to the Akimichi food pills, staring at that lone clone tantalizingly, tempting his creative mind to unlock their secrets.

Well, even the clone wasn't stupid enough to take pills that were even worse than the normal version when he didn't have the fat to make them any better. Those things were dangerous even to an Akimichi who was proud of their girth!

But that is what made that clone choose to devise something that would make those mocking food pills obsolete. At least for himself and his team.

The answer came in the form of the Kyuubi. Or more accurately, the seal it was imprisoned in. The Kyuubi admitted that her body was created and composed of pure chakra. Thus, the entire thing was nothing but a storage device that the original Naruto used as a battery, according to that same demonic fox. Nothing but a battery.

Well, that was an idea just begging to be utilized!

The design Naruto had completed from the clone's thoughts was elegant in its simplicity. He designed a seal that would allow chakra in, but not out, as long as the medium the chakra was stored in remained. Much like how Hinata was binding her chakra to the water so it would move the amorphous substance, the seal would bind the chakra to whatever Naruto's medium was. The trick, however, came in getting something that could deliver all of that chakra quickly and efficiently.

A regular battery-like design, where he pulled the chakra out as needed, would not work for his needs. It would be too simple for the chakra to leak or for the design to malfunction causing an explosion, or too much or too little come out. At least for anything that didn't require so much space to craft the seal that something portable would stop being feasible as it would be too large to carry around and allow them to keep their fighting ability. But a seal to store chakra within the confines of the space the seal was crafted onto was simple and shrunk down to the size of his thumbnail. Like a canister with a one-way valve, the force of the chakra within would keep the valve closed, only able to open when more force was pushing the chakra in, instead of out.

In other words, it was basically like a less dangerous version of the seals placed on most jinchuuriki. But since that chakra didn't have a will of its own, then there was no worries in it trying to escape, so there was surprisingly little that was required to make it simply hold chakra.

Happy to have had the hardest part finished, Naruto sealed his research into a hidden storage seal on his finger and went to take a shower, unaware that Hinata was walking up the stairs to his apartment even as he turned the water on.

xXxXxXx

"Ino-chan, can I talk to you for a minute?" Inoichi asked as his daughter came downstairs to head to her team meeting.

"What's up?" She asked, putting her long hair into a ponytail and then double-checking her equipment pouches. Today was the day for a new mission, and she was wanting to be sure she had everything necessary since there was no telling what it would involve. D-rank missions sucked, but there was still something so exciting about actually having a duty and ... training had been rather fun for the past several weeks... Not to mention Naruto had an idea he was wanting to run by the team.

Inoichi saw his daughter checking her equipment and took a moment to realize she wasn't making a sound as she walked and her center of gravity remained low to maintain her balance. He couldn't help but feel pride swell in his chest. He was _so_ proud of her! Ino really seemed to have taken her kunoichi career seriously since getting on a team. He had been rather worried, to be honest. "You were aware that Ibiki and I were watching your team during your initial practice session, right?" He asked, knowing he didn't have to specify or bring up that it was about torture. He knew she remembered well enough.

"Yes," Ino said, looking a little less carefree than she did a moment ago as a slight frown graced her pink lips. Her father was happy to note she hadn't applied make-up before her training like she would on the physical days at the Academy. "What about it?"

"Well, the first thing I wanted to tell you is that Ibiki finally let us know that he was impressed with you three. He pointed out a bunch of mistakes, but said he rarely saw such natural talents in green recruits and to let you know you guys may be getting scouted later for the department." Inoichi watched as his only daughter nodded thoughtfully, still obviously unsure about how to feel about the whole thing.

"Maybe, I don't know," Ino said hesitatingly. "I mean, I kind of have a hard time thinking about doing that sort of stuff all the time. I mean, torturing people just ... doesn't feel very right," she admitted, looking down.

"It isn't supposed to feel right or natural," Inoichi said softly, tilting her face to look up at him. "If you can do that sort of thing without feeling something because of it and hating it every moment, even while you're doing it, then it means you've crossed a line. Some, like Anko and Ibiki, get to a point where it's a job, but they don't actually enjoy it. If you ever kill and enjoy it or kill like it was nothing, or torture and enjoy it, then you know that you've crossed that line. Until then, it's natural to feel that way, or just be indifferent about it."

"I just don't know if I can do the same thing you do," Ino admitted, placing everything her father was saying into her mind and committing it to memory. They hadn't spoken like this in the past and she knew it was something she had to remember.

"Well, you don't have to think about it any time soon. It'll be a little while before Ibiki wants to recruit you guys, I'm sure. But because of that, I felt it was time you got the next level of our techniques."

"What?" Ino exclaimed, looking into her father's proud eyes in shock. "But ... I haven't perfected-"

"Actually, you have," Inoichi interrupted. "You can't get the Mind-Body Transfer technique any better than you have already. The rest is all about dominance in the struggle between the two minds, or basically experience. That's why I've held you back the last couple of years from our clan scrolls. You seemed too much like a normal kid, and our techniques can't be used by someone like that. Now, you've shown yourself as a serious kunoichi, so I think it's okay to start you on something." He also hoped it would make what happened a little easier considering the torture lesson they had, though he still had to talk to her two sensei before deciding he was comfortable doing so. "This technique is a little different."

"How?" Ino asked. "No one in the family has ever talked about this stuff in the open and never unless it's in the sensory room. And you won't let me in there," she grumbled.

Inoichi chuckled, smiling warmly at her. "That's because that room is designed to block out everything from outside of its walls. Literally nothing can get in once the door is closed. You never had a reason to be in there. You would probably have only used it to gossip with Sakura in the past."

Ino rolled her eyes and then gestured at the scroll. "Okay, I _may_ agree with you. Now what's this about a new technique?" She asked hopefully.

"The 'Mind Seedling' technique is something that was created after learning about the Shadow Clone technique," Inoichi began, pulling out a scroll. "You use it to put a part of yourself into the mind of the enemy and, once it's activated, it basically records everything that person sees or hears until it's canceled, at which point, you learn everything as if you were along for the ride in their body."

"That's amazing!" Ino said in awe. "Why don't we use this more often?"

"It's chakra-intensive, for one," Inoichi explained. "It doesn't require a lot of chakra to activate, but it requires constantly using chakra to record everything. You're at a point from what I can tell that you'll be able to use this soon. That was one of the contributing factors to why I forced you to wait. I just want you to study the scroll for now. I'll start working on using it with you in a week."

"You said 'for one'," Ino stated. "Why else wouldn't we use it more often?"

"Each time you use and sustain it, it makes you less effective. Since you don't control the enemy, not all of your mind's abilities will be shut down to control them like the Mind-Body Transfer, but the real you will be a bit spaced out. You won't be as effective in a fight or anything, so it's dangerous to keep going, and trying to use the Mind-Body Transfer while you have this going is an almost guaranteed failure at that technique; remember that. But, this gives you a slight awareness of them, so you know when to shut it down yourself. My father got to a point where he used this technique in his most serious, one-on-one fights so he knew what his enemy was thinking and planning, and he had somehow found a way to barely be fazed by it. Though, he was more advanced than anyone we have been aware of."

"I understand," Ino said. "So, it's like being in two places at once and thinking of two things at once. But, like we have to shift between topics like everyone else would normally have to do instead of being able to think about both at once?"

"Exactly," Inoichi confirmed with a warm smile as Ino rolled the scroll up for later study. It was marked as a copy, so it was okay to take away from the house.

"You said that was the first thing you wanted to talk about?" Ino asked. "Ibiki and then the scroll? Or was the scroll the second thing?"

"Ah, one other thing, actually," Inoichi began with a red face. "During the interrogation ... Um, your team doesn't actually ... er..."

Ino blushed furiously. How do you lie to a man who happens to be known as a human lie detector?

Internally, an Inner Ino's eyes darted left to right before blowing a whistle and raising a hand into the air for attention. _'RUN AWAY!'_

So she did. And Inoichi was horrified. He should have known. Interrogation-101: Never ask a question you don't want to know the answer to.

xXxXxXx

Hiashi sipped his tea, pretending that what he was ignoring wasn't happening, even as Neji continuously shifted his concerned gaze from his Clan Head to his cousin, Hanabi.

The littlest Hyuuga ignored them, as well, as she focused all of her concentration on her milk and cereal, forming little balls and leaning forward to chomp them out of the air. "Nom, nom, nom." Tired of dribbling milk down her chin, something she had never fully been able to stop unless she wanted to eat a single tiny bite at a time, the girl had hit upon a genius solution using what her older sister had taught her only that morning.

Crossing her eyes to watch her delicious morning nemesis, she opened wide and went in for the kill. "Ahhh, nom! Nom, nom, nom."

xXxXxXx

"So you just need something that will deliver a small amount of what will probably be liquid into the body?" Hinata asked from where she was latched onto Naruto's arm and lazily walking towards their training ground. She had just been told the whole idea and found the concept fascinating on a wide scale. This could revolutionize ninja battles and was amazed it hadn't really been done before.

"I think so," Naruto said quietly, having the strongest desire to cuddle with this woman. Either cuddle or do horribly wicked things to her naked body. At the moment, it didn't matter as long as they could be alone and nuzzle each other at the very least. "My clone had the idea sprout from when I tricked Konohamaru into drinking all of those energy drinks I got him and his friends before class when he saw the Akimichi food pill painting. I figured, if we can get the energy boosts that way, why not others? I just needed to think up the best way for this."

"Well, it can't be a form of injection or I'd recommend an altered morphine capsule. Medics use them in the field when pain is too intense and the person can't fight anymore unless it's a last ditch effort type of deal since it makes the person loopy as hell. But they could be easily converted. But you can't inject chakra into the body without taking damage. That's the whole point of the Jyuuken style my family uses. And for the levels you're talking about, it could well kill the cells at the injection site, causing necrosis and making the body start to die from the inside out."

"I was actually thinking of poison flasks," Naruto said, pulling his arm towards him to squeeze Hinata's waist and press her against him. She had done wonderful things with her hands to him in the shower, things that he still couldn't stop smiling about, and the idea of being any sort of distance away from her, even inches, was almost physically painful. Really and truly, he felt an intense, physical need to claim this girl. He just didn't realize what it was and thought it was how much he loved her since he had nothing to compare it to.

That, and he liked it when she talked medic.

"Poison flasks?" Hinata asked, confused.

"Well, I did get the idea from regular energy drinks and we get our energy from eating and drinking, and if we get durable, metal flasks with a strong lid like Anko's poison flasks, then I could add a nutrient cocktail for it to get absorbed faster, just in case it helps. Especially if we can figure out a more liquid form of those field rations. Then, I can just call it my own version of an energy drink. But a flask like that will hold up better to our needs than glass or plastic since it's metal. And we already know wood has a nullifying effect on my chakra, even without the furball's mixed in."

Hinata nodded approvingly, glad he had taken her lessons about food intake and used them in another fashion. At least she didn't have to threaten to stake him in the heart with a carrot again. "How long until you could get a testable version?"

Naruto bobbed his head back and forth as he ran through his needed prep-work in his head. "If I had something to etch the seal into, perhaps an hour. I'd need far longer to make the final versions that wouldn't be obvious to our enemies or something they could recreate."

"Actually, if we put a lot of stuff in there, especially some extra that won't hurt taking at the same time, we could just say it's the juice, not the container that is so special," Hinata said with a deliciously evil smirk. "It'd help the body to gain a high boost of vitamins and proteins when that's used anyway. Plus, anyone looking at it would probably think it was a liquid version of the soldier pill. All we'd have to do is spread around a story about it being a compound mixture that requires another ingestible component to keep our enemies guessing."

_'Sweet Kami I love this woman,'_ Naruto thought to himself before leaning in and stealing a kiss from her lips. "You're a genius."

"Does that mean I get a reward today?" Hinata asked sweetly, already anticipating squeezing Naruto's head between her powerful thighs.

"Why the goofy grin, Naruto?" Ino asked as the other two came into her field of vision.

"I was born with it," he responded automatically, causing Ino to roll her eyes. "Oh, uh, sorry. Force of habit. I was in the middle of planning a new thing that may make fights a bit easier to last through."

"Like what?" Ino asked curiously, sitting on Naruto's left while Hinata cuddled into his right. The Hyuuga heiress had already heard it, so she entertained herself with thoughts of how to get the most enjoyment out of her boyfriend later. The next ten minutes were spent explaining to Ino the nature of soldier pills and how they functioned before explaining his idea and the current plan.

"That's awesome!" Ino chirruped brightly. "So how do you get the chakra into them?"

"Just push it in," Naruto said, pushing a hand forward slightly. "That'll give me the ability to make emergency level ones that will give me a huge boost if I'm having to fling higher-level jutsu around and can't conserve as much chakra as I'd like. I still have to be careful I don't load them too much or I'll poison myself, even with my own chakra."

"So, you'll have different levels like Chouji's family?" Ino asked.

"Mhm," Naruto hummed. "Only, I hope it's without the danger theirs have."

"Hello, Naruto-kun," Hinata said as she bent down and kissed him fiercely on the lips, pulling back and winking at the Hinata that had been lounging against his side the whole time before dispersing itself a few feet away.

"Uh...?" Ino muttered, wondering what that was about.

Hinata took a moment to stretch her arms into the air and arch her back, still keeping as much of Naruto pressed against her as she could get. "I had a clone run an errand for me and she found out what I was looking for. She just wanted a Naruto-kun kiss before dispersing."

"Which was?" Ino asked, bending forward and letting her ponytail flail in the wind as Hinata got up and put a hand down to help the other two up.

"Come on and I'll show you."

xXxXxXx

"I'm just saying, maybe you shouldn't have glued every entrance to the man's place shut or encased the house in ninja wire," Kurenai told Anko, having found the woman finishing up around Kakashi's home and knowing this was somehow going to bite them in the butt. And not the way she enjoyed, either.

"It just felt like the right thing to do, Kurenai-chan," Anko grumbled good-naturedly. "At least he's actually got an excuse for being late this time when he meets his team."

"You put a family of badgers through his kitchen window," Kurenai sighed. "I think one of them was rabid."

"And a dozen stray cats, three birds, seven squirrels and an apple with a smiley face carved into it," Anko agreed before adopted an expression of confusion. "Where the hell are my minions?"

"Hm?" Kurenai looked to where Anko was looking and saw only a single smiling minion looking back at her. "Naruto? Where is everyone?"

"Hinata-chan had a surprise for everyone and they're getting to it now because the first part has to be done soon or there won't be time. You can meet up with Boss and the girls at Anko's dango bar. They'll be there for another ten minutes or so until everything's ready." With that, the clone was about to strike itself to dispel when Anko's hands jabbed forward and caught his, keeping him from it.

"You're a clone?" She asked, getting a nod. "Why not wait for us?"

"Hinata-chan said they could only agree to keeping everything quiet if we showed up an hour before they opened, but she wouldn't tell us what it was. I was left to let you know where to meet so you can get yours, too."

Anko hummed for a moment before twisting the shocked clone around and wrapping him in a headlock while looking at Kurenai, uncaring as the clone's yells were muffled by her breast and his flailing began to slow and his strength waned. Apparently, clones needed oxygen as well or this was simply one of those things where the situation was somehow weakening him. "Punishment for not being here on time?"

"Let's see what they're up to, first," Kurenai stated, always the diplomatic one.

Anko nodded and released the clone who gulped in air. "Gah! What's wrong with you! You _do_ know the Boss learns everything we learn, right?"

"So?" Anko asked, confused. Sure, Hinata had breasts, but they weren't on Anko's level yet. Nor did she constantly put them on display. Well, not outside of Naruto's apartment, anyway.

The clone grumbled and palmed his face. "Well, at least this isn't the first time I almost died smothered by breasts," he mumbled, jabbing himself in the chest as Kurenai squawked and Anko laughed. The two rushed off to meet up with the team before time was up and they'd leave the dango bar.

It only took the two Jounin two minutes to get to Anko's favorite place and, once they got there, they saw Hinata challenging Ino to one of her games to see who could fit the most number of dango balls still on a stick in their mouths.

Hinata couldn't figure out how she was losing. It had started out as a game to get the girl training to be Naruto's second mate, but the girl had wicked natural oral and throat skills! She would have to ask the blonde how to suppress her gag reflex.

"Alright you three. What's going on?" Kurenai asked as Anko joined in the challenge, unaware of what Hinata was indirectly training Ino for.

Or totally aware of it and uncaring. One could never know with that woman.

"In a few minutes, the outfitting store run by the parents of a friend of ours will be letting us in where we'll be measured for some tactical outfits," Hinata said, quickly taking a full dango stick into her mouth and bringing it back out clean, only to glare as Anko laughed and did the same with two and a wink.

Apparently, she had a _very_ good idea of what Hinata was up to. Or just liked beating them at their own game.

"What kind of outfits?" Ino asked, putting her dango down and hiccuping. _'Too much sugar ... ugh...'_

"Specialized stuff," Hinata offered. "I've discussed the details with our supplier. The rest I want to be a surprise. But basically, for what we're meant to be doing, this will directly reflect that."

Curious, the others followed and got measured, allowing themselves to be poked, prodded and, in Naruto's case, fondled when Hinata knew no one was looking after realizing it amused her to see him jump when he thought the hands belonged to Tenten's father.

xXxXxXx

[**Warning**: Graphic imagery – Skip to "Lemon End" if you don't want to read – Development with Sasuke/Sakura with sexual activity throughout this scene. Descriptions of sex begin like normal]

Sasuke grinned darkly as he lounged in his bed, Sakura's pink head bobbing on his nether regions for the third time that morning. He had offered to let her stay the night before where he had indulged in some of his new fantasies, having her dance around and strip for him, making her service his physical needs a few times that night. It was incredible to learn what kinds of uses fangirls had! And she was so excited and happy to do them all! She even begged to do so when he told her to!

He had made her masturbate in front of him, curious about how the girls did it, and found himself wondering how rubbing around did anything without a penis. It wasn't long before he had grown incapable of growing hard again and had enjoyed a bath as she bathed him. She was such an amusing girl. And she had tried so very hard to get him excited during the bath, too. Her obvious inability to keep him aroused didn't bother him as much as it had at first, though. She was so miserable that she was apparently failing that she had woken him up that morning with her mouth, eager to please and try to gain forgiveness.

Then again while he ate the breakfast she had made him, on her knees under the table.

And now again, before he took his shower and got dressed to meet their team, causing Sasuke to be proud of his growth of recovery and staying power.

He had lasted more than four minutes this time, and Sakura was still going strong, trying to make him erupt again. Throughout the entire morning, and a promise for any time she was over and they were alone, she swore to never wear clothing in his home so she would always be available for him. So, he had been taking advantage of it.

Sasuke watched as Sakura's ass swayed in the air with her body's back and forth movements. He was really enjoying his newest toy and, while he wanted to try out others, he knew he couldn't let himself be distracted, lest he not cultivate the strongest bond possible with Sakura. He was also a little worried that any other women would make the bond with her less effective. But still, he was growing somewhat tired of this. It felt incredible, but it was only the first thing he had done with her.

Sasuke didn't understand a whole lot about sex or the female body. He skipped the sex education courses because the staff had a tendency to draw attention to him and the girls all looked at him oddly. They never saw it prudent to separate the two genders during those talks, feeling it was important both sides knew about each other as much as themselves. Still, even with skipping those classes, he had learned enough to know the hole Sakura liked to rub on was meant for his pride, such as it was. And, if you were supposed to cultivate a bond, wasn't that supposed to be the most powerful act two people could do? Wasn't that what all of his fangirls spoke of when talking about loving him?

[Lemon Start]

Sasuke looked down at Sakura, her long, pink hair flowing down and pooling around his legs and tickling slightly with their silky smooth tresses. Her eyes were closed and she was concentrating hard on her work, using one hand to keep her hair pulled back so he could watch and the other using two fingers to hold his base as she bobbed and slurped messily. He realized, in that moment of clarity, that a bond had to go both ways, and just letting her take his seed was meaningless unless he gave it to her.

And most importantly, he had been forgetting this was meant for training for his true future wives and his performance.

"Sakura-chan," Sasuke said, his face neutral as the girl looked up, keeping her mouth wrapped tightly around his shaft, just as he ordered she was to do. "Lay down. It's time we take this to the next level."

Sakura, despite having been naked for the past nineteen hours with this boy and despite him performing such thorough examinations of her body with fingers and eyes, and despite using her mouth to please him any chance she got, found herself blushing and slowly complying, unsure of taking the next step, but far too happy it was happening to really listen to her instincts. She laid down on her back with a soft smile, looking up lovingly at her boyfriend and spreading her legs slightly apart, letting him crawl in between them. She held her arms up, hoping he would take the hint and lean down to kiss her, something that hadn't happened since that first time.

Sasuke positioned himself at the bright pink hair at her middle and scooted upwards, putting his erection into her folds and shoving his hips forward, making Sakura scream out in pain as he tore through her still-intact hymen. He looked up and frowned as her hands flew to cover her chest and she withdrew on herself instinctively from the pain.

"It hurts!" Sakura screamed, trying to scoot backwards a little and get off of him even as he leaned forward and held himself up with his left arm and grabbed her around the neck with his right, bending her back at an odd angle to keep her from moving and so she wouldn't move away anymore.

"It's your first time. It's supposed to hurt," he told her, thrusting forward and beginning a stuttering rhythm as Sakura's cries turned to whimpers, ignoring her tears and grunting with the effort of the strange position. He found himself loving this new act. Sakura's sex was hot and wet and radiating a heat from within that appealed to the fire-user. And as wet as she was from enjoying her own work on him, she was well-lubricated for him to keep going. Well, she was now.

Sakura kept her eyes shut and tried to pretend the pain wasn't there. She knew it was supposed to hurt her first time, but she also knew there was meant to be pleasure, too. And while there was some of that growing, that feeling within her stomach told her this was somehow different than it was meant to be. That somehow, this was meant to go a different path and a different way and that what she just experienced was ... _not right_.

Tears fell down her cheeks as she tried to focus on Sasuke's quickening grunting and breathing. After perhaps two minutes of effort, she finally began to ignore the pain as it lessened to manageable levels and began to wrap her arms around Sasuke's neck, finally able to unclench her eyes and look into his face, only to see his chin as his head was thrown back.

Then she felt something warmer than herself move within her in a small spurt as Sasuke remained steady. Then he pulled out with a grin and went to take his shower, smiling down proudly at the bloodied sheet underneath of Sakura's bottom before he turned to leave without a word.

[Lemon End]

Sakura felt another tear trail her cheek, unsure why Sasuke just walking off without a word or glance hurt when she knew, logically, he had to get his shower so they could get to their team meeting. By necessity, what they just did had to be quick, and because she tried to stop and get away, he had to keep going or she would have failed her promise to do everything a good wife was supposed to. So, really, he was just helping her fulfill her promise to him to act like a good wife would. He wasn't being cruel or mean, just helping her do what she promised. He _wasn't _being mean.

Sakura wondered why it still hurt that he walked away like that, squeezing her legs together and going to the bathroom down the hall to clean herself up and take another bath, moving much more slowly as her middle ached disapprovingly.

Four years ago, when Sakura had met Ino, she had been a bit of a girly-girl in appearance with a heavy tomboy streak in personality. Ladybugs were adorable, flowers were the best toy and clothes were the things to make her look like a princess while the warrior princess Amaterasu, who was the daughter of the Sun Goddess, was the person to emulate and model her life after. But at the same time, she had a haircut that was the same as her favorite cartoon princess which, sadly, showed more forehead than other girls because she didn't have any bangs on the front. Amaterasu wore her hair short because it was better in a fight that way, so Sakura felt it was the best way.

She was teased mercilessly and cruelly. During their flower-arranging classes, every single girl would mock, tease and ridicule her, telling her she was ugly and looked like a boy which, thanks to a warrior-princess' haircut, wasn't entirely just being cruel, but somewhat truthful since the teacher of the class got onto her for joining a female-only class. That is, all girls except one. Yamanaka Ino had given Sakura her first hair ribbon and became her first friend, which the nearly broken girl had latched onto like a lifeline, inordinately pleased to finally have _someone_ who was kind to her other than one of the boys who was going to graduate the Academy that year who had seemed rather interested in her.

Like a sponge, Sakura took every word Ino told her and every lesson Ino taught her to heart. Being strong wasn't a big deal in their lives. There was plenty of time to do that when they became ninja! No, all the rage right then, all the things that made friends was boys. Not beating them up for saying girls were weak or picking fights themselves, as that was why Sakura had been shunned to begin with. But talking about them, actually _liking_ them, was how you made friends!

Sakura decided that she would follow Ino's example and lessons, even if they _had_ been poorly communicated and the pink-haired girl had to assume some things and figure out others that she was apparently expected to already know. She stopped trying to beat up every boy that was mean to her or said girls were weak. She stopped watching the Adventures of Princess Amaterasu as she protected the world from bad guys. She began wearing more dresses instead of pants like boys. She even stopped talking to the older boy when all of the girls her age seemed more interested in Uchiha Sasuke, even though they had all said earlier than older boys were good to have since they were more stable and probably had more money. They didn't even seem to care that the boy had been talking about kissing and stuff!

So, Sakura reinvented herself when she was six and a half. She stopped doing the things she wanted to do and that which felt more natural to her to be like the other girls; she was less violent except in regards to pursuing Sasuke's heart as seemed to be the way to be the top girl, and with Naruto, who no one seemed to care if she was violent with. She dressed more for fashion than comfort and function and even let her hair grow out, forsaking Princess Amaterasu, though she still kept the cosplay outfit since that cost far too many allowances to get.

However, in doing all of that, the parts of her that she ignored and refused to deal with or couldn't bear to acknowledge were shunted to the back of her mind, only to come out if and when those thoughts worked for her new path in life, which was usually to be the top girl in Sasuke's fangirl fan club. Anything else and Sakura refused to acknowledge it until it eventually all stopped, no longer actually being there and she simply forgot that any other part of herself, especially from such a painful time in her past, existed.

But it didn't die.

As Sakura gently cleaned herself, the cracks in her new personality simply began to grow with the painful realization that her new reality wasn't as nice or rewarding as she thought it would be. It was ... lonely and hollow.

xXxXxXx

"They should be ready in two weeks, Hyuuga-sama," Hoshi promised once he had obtained all the measurements for Team Eight. "I will put all other orders on hold to get these ready. Your specifications are uncommon, but I have the materials except a few I will have to make, hence the time frame. Putting it all together should be relatively quick. The weapons are normally reserved for ANBU, but I'll make the exception since you're friends with Tenten."

Actually, it was because Team Eight, according to the Hokage, had free access to any items within Konoha and failure to sell or give said items was a guaranteed death. That just didn't sound as friendly. Nor was he allowed to so much as hint at such a thing under the same penalty. But, whenever they ordered something custom, it was also an order from that same Hokage to make any such orders a rush job while maintaining quality. Otherwise, this job would normally be a month and a half.

"That's fine, Batta-san. Just please make sure the material reacts as requested."

"And say 'hi' to Tenten for us, okay?" Naruto asked as the group left Tenten's father's workshop. It had been a long time before Naruto had found out that the panda-haired girl had a family. He always saw her in the company of Team Nine and knew how much she trained that he never realized she somehow managed to make time for her dad. Though it didn't surprise him as much after considering. The girl had tens of thousands of Ryo worth of weapons, all in excellent shape and quality. A Genin couldn't make the kind of money needed for that many weapons unless she was paying for it in some other method, but he knew she had too much self-respect to do something like that which would be accepted. And her ninja training would not give her nearly enough time to learn to forge.

Hoshi waved the group off with a smile, pleased that his daughter had friends, and well-funded ones at that. He only saw his little girl in the mornings when he woke up the same time she did, or if he was up late enough to see her come home and occasionally for lunch. They were almost strangers anymore.

"If you're getting us matching uniforms," Anko grumbled good-naturedly, "then I'm going to force you to sleep covered in my snakes."

Hinata smiled warmly at the purple-haired woman as she latched onto Naruto's arm. "Technically, I am, but they're mission clothes, not cheerleader uniforms. He's also aware of the weapons that are to be hidden, as well."

"What kinds of weapons?" Anko and Ino asked together, both looking somewhat curious. Anko, because she rather enjoyed weapons and bloodletting, and Ino because she got to _play_ with those weapons and learn how to _do_ the bloodletting.

"Shadow-level ones," Hinata said simply, causing Anko to whistle appreciatively. Shadow-level weapons were made of some of the hardest alloys known to man right now. It was a tungsten carbide mix that was extremely rare, but conducted chakra like nobody's business while being stronger than pretty much any known other blades. And for those who didn't pay to have the material polished, it was dull enough that it refused to reflect any form of light, making it perfect for stealthy action.

It also didn't rust, even if not taken care of properly for years, and didn't require oiling like most blades did to maintain them. Water actually ran right off of the material because it was too smooth for the liquid to adhere.

"Those are expensive, kid. The metal itself isn't the usual stuff. The forging process makes all the metal black, not just the outside so you can sharpen it and get nicks without losing its effectiveness to blend into the night. And the metal is far tougher than usual, too, to say nothing of their chakra sensitivity."

"I'm well aware," Hinata said, not bothering looking at her sensei or team. "It will also fit our needs better than most other equipment for stealth. I am getting the best to ensure we survive and our enemies don't. I'm also hoping to get some personal weapons outside the usual kunai and shuriken."

"I don't see your clan doling out the funds for this kind of thing," Anko said, beaning a guy with a pebble to his forehead for ogling her nearly uncovered mammaries a few seconds longer than she felt reasonable. "Just five kunai of this stuff is practically an S-class paycheck all by itself."

"The Hokage gave Naruto-kun and I a large pay-out for capturing Mizuki along with discretionary funds in the worst case scenario. We've got it covered." Hinata eyed Anko with a sly look and grin. "Don't tell me you're turning down free blades. And here I thought you liked to hurt things." Anko snorted in amusement at the indigo-haired girl's attempt to tease her.

"Something I've been meaning to discuss with everyone," Naruto began once they were out of town and entering their training grounds. "I've been thinking about it, and would like to give you guys some sealing tattoos as emergency backup."

"I don't really like tattoos, Naruto," Ino said as she scrunched up her face. "I'm not really all that into that sort of thing. They kind of take away from a person's good looks."

"And you know I don't really like seals on my body," Anko said with narrowed eyes. Naruto's offer hit a sore spot within her.

Naruto held out his hand and a kunai appeared in it with a small poof of smoke. Then, with another poof, it disappeared and a scroll showed up. Then it disappeared and a plastic bag filled with another set of clothes appeared before disappearing as well. "I'm not making this offer to give you normal tattoos. They'll be clear and impossible to see just like what I've got on my hands since I write them in a crystal ink. The only way someone will notice them is if they are specifically looking for them. And even if you don't like seals, you have to admit that having a spare set of clothes, weapons and emergency supplies immediately on hand is a good idea. Especially if we get called for an emergency mission and can't waste time to go and restock supplies or the like. I seal my travel pack on me at all times. Not to mention damn near anything else I may want or need. Hell, the only reason I go home is to sleep and for my clothes."

"I would like at least two more, Naruto-kun," Hinata stated, partly because she had been thinking about asking him for them anyway, but also because having one person accept would make it easier for the others. "I'd like one on the inside of my forearms. I may want more later like you do. I know I want at least one on top of my inner thigh so I can hide important things as you do."

Ino came up and inspected Naruto's hands, noticing she couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. "No one will ever see them or anything?" For some strange reason, her inner fangirl was thinking about boys sparkling in the sunlight and rather than like it, she knew that whatever it was, it was supposed to be evil and had to be killed. It certainly wasn't as good or nice as it was appearing to be. Therefore, she simply had to make sure Naruto didn't sparkle.

A girl can never be too careful.

"Nope," Naruto smiled at them all, proud of himself. "I keep the really restricted stuff, or my most important, in separate seals that are hidden on my body in places that are way too out of the ordinary and usually covered up to see and the most useful stuff in my fingers or palms, plus a few emergency weapons on my arms. Kunai and shuriken are great for fingers, but that's the only thing I'd recommend there in case someone tries to remove them for torture."

"How'd you get them to places that are out of the ordinary?" Kurenai questioned, thinking anywhere he could reach would be obvious and ignoring Ino hide her dainty digits behind her back at the casual way Naruto mentioned their removal.

"Shadow clones," he replied with a shrug. "This isn't really a new concept, but the ink I use doesn't show up like normal, so people don't expect them."

"Maybe one, just so I have my supplies with me like you do," Ino finally agreed. "I have to admit, having these seems like a much better idea than not. But, we can't accidentally seal ourselves, can we?"

"No," Naruto said with an amused grin. "Just like a sealing scroll, you can't seal yourself. If it tried, the seal would end up being sealed inside itself and then it wouldn't exist, so the actual action of sealing anything would fail."

"Oh," Ino blinked. "Then I guess it wouldn't be so bad. But I don't want one on my fingers right now."

"The seals for sealing are too large for a finger," Kurenai realized. "How do you get them on your fingers?"

"Write smaller," Naruto said. "Usual brushes make wide strokes. Make the seal lines as small as hair strands and you're good. It's uncomfortable, but Hinata-chan uses a medical jutsu for pain relief that keeps it painless."

"As long as I don't go home and my mom thinks I've joined some kind of gang or something," Ino said with a blush. "I remember thinking a butterfly tattoo was cute once and she acted like the world was about to end."

"I think having one may not be such a bad idea," Kurenai relented, seeing the intelligence of the plan. It would be nice to have emergency packs on hand whenever a mission was given with an immediate response time.

Anko glared at the blond boy in front of her, internal feelings warring with logical thought. She had a seal on her and she despised it. She hated it so fully that only that very same hatred could help keep the thing at bay. And here she was, being told she should get another one? "I'll hold off, thanks," the Jounin growled out. _'These kids are going to suffer during their training today. I need to let off some steam. I think the Forest of Death will be a good place for now.'_

"I understand," Naruto said. "Out of curiousity, since I _have_ studied seals and become pretty good at them, would you mind if I looked at yours later to see about transferring it? I know it can't be destroyed, or at least we don't know how, but transferring may work."

Anko felt a sense of elation at the idea of someone looking into a way to remove the mark on her shoulder, but also vulnerable because that same mark was like a tag that said her body had been violated at some point by the man she had trusted more than any other and she didn't like _anyone_ looking at it or seeing it. Still, no one had ever thought of moving it, before.

"We'll see, brat. For now, you're just a midget with goals, and it'll take a little more than that to get me shedding my shirt for you to look at my seal." Actually, she'd do it just to see him squirm under Hinata's glare, but it was more fun to state his reasons were for his own perversions and making him work towards a goal of getting her topless rather than helping her.

"Anyway, let's get our morning stretches and warm-ups done. We're going to be practicing teamwork today," Anko said with her usual sadistic smile shining full force in a way that it hadn't for a while. _'It's been too long since I did something like this. I'm becoming soft if a bunch of brats can keep me from training in my favorite grounds.'_

"How so?" Hinata asked, sitting on the ground with Naruto and stretching her hamstrings while Ino lifted her left leg straight up while continuing to stand on her right so both looked as though she were doing a split. Naruto found himself oddly intrigued.

"We're going to be training in the Forest of Death," Anko said gleefully.

xXxXxXx

Yogin stood with his 6'8'' frame straight and as still as a statue as the slit throats of twenty-two women drained their blood into the seal that had been etched into the ground near the border between Fire Country, Grass and Waterfall. Together, he and Kanochi had raided a small farming village, capturing every woman available and taking them back to their place of work, hoping their female blood would make things easier since it was predispositioned for creating and nurturing life. Twenty-two would be enough to fill the etched seal with their blood, allowing Kanochi to have his way with the remaining twelve. Six were already dead.

Kanochi was a firm believer in life turning in a circle, having misunderstood one of his first lessons as a boy about the circle of life. As an infant he had found his way to some komodo dragons after his parents had been killed by bandits on the road and he was left for dead since they didn't want another mouth to feed. For whatever reason, they had nurtured him instead of eating him, possibly because of the noises he had made. But, living with them, he had developed a poison immunity due to the poisons from their mouths that were also everywhere in their living spaces. He had gained strength and a personality like that of one of them.

Then he had been found by Iwa ninja when he was seven and taken back for rehabilitation due to his poison immunity and impressive strength. That had been where Kanochi learned about the Circle of Life. Oddly, it hadn't been the boy's psychologists that had managed to get through to his mind and begin teaching him, but his partner during relaxation time in the mental hospital; Yogin.

From his very first experience, he believed it was both proper, and the only way, to provide his life-giving seed to a woman as he choked the life out of her. In a strange, sick way, he felt he was doing right by these women. He was, in fact, the source of of Yumino Fujin's twisted ideas on purity. Kanochi had been the one to end his sister, explaining his actions to the boy as he stared at his sister's dimming eyes. And in a strange twist of Fate, the team that interrogated Fujin would be the ones who would eventually come due to these actions.

Prophetically, one might say, in a full circle.

The seal etched onto the ground was possibly one of Yogin's greatest works. It was a twisted and modified summoning circle that had dozens of additional seals added and etched into the ground within the containment circle. What he was hoping to summon was not a normal summon, but something truly a demon.

Yogin knew he was old. And he was far too old to get back into shape, having spent four-fifths of his life strapped to a bed so he couldn't write seals, letting his body atrophy greatly. While those in Iwa thought he was in his nineties, he was actually closer to a hundred and eight, though he may have been off by a year or three depending on the actual length of his internment. His goal was to create something from legend. Something that he had unlocked the secrets to after the leader of Iwa showed him one of the Yondaime's tri-tipped kunai.

The seals were amateurish at best, but they did something Yogin could honestly say he had not considered before. They commanded three of the five elements, plus one he had never heard of used before in seals.

Oh, he had understood the secret to the Yondaime's Flying Thunder of God, or Hiraishin technique, at the first glance of the deformed kunai. The blonde Konoha man had considered using Natural chakra, but called it something different, according to the kanji.

He had called it 'Life'.

Most people would call the full combination of elements 'Natural' chakra. Indeed, even Anko had explained it on her team's first outside mission to Kensei as such. But instead, the Yondaime used the power of the universe to move about. That was _supposed_ to be impossible. Natural chakra was supposed to be too potent and difficult for a single person to mold and work with. But he had done it.

It had taken Yogin a week to understand that distinction between 'Natural chakra' and 'Life' on the kunai. He knew what it did and how it worked, he just didn't understand '_why_'. But once he did, he realized just exactly what the Yondaime Hokage had truly done. He used the power of 'Life' to reshape the world around him using Natural chakra. And that was the key. Not to the technique, since it was basically just Natural chakra, but to Yogin's dilemma. Calling it 'Life' was probably just to confuse those who got his kunai since he wasn't diligent in picking up after himself.

Yogin also considered it was converting the entirety of the five elements into a single one, but knew that was beyond possible. Otherwise, people would know about that kind of chakra already. Never mind the fact that medical chakra was also different and rarely considered its own branch like the five elements of Nature chakra.

The average ninja could use a single element, or Nature chakra. Jounin were generally required to learn and get at least a near mastery on two. The Yondaime had learned two and was proficient in a third, but not near a mastery. And only the wind element came naturally to him. That was the point of all the seals and the three tips to the kunai. It allowed the Yondaime to manipulate two elements and the kunai to manipulate three, making the eventual merger Natural chakra, or 'Life'. A combination of all the elements into one. The fact was that the man controlled both wind and lightning with a near mastery, that was the true secret to his technique. It was also why Iwa could never figure out the technique. They only had part of it and thought it was the full deal. It was like reading a book with two-fifths of the words removed, and the most important ones at that. No names or verbs for you!

Understanding the technique brought about an understanding of the universe in a small way. That was what led Yogin to his current goal.

He wanted to fuse his ancient and withered body with a demon's. Doing so would grant him the extended life and strength to then create a philosopher's stone, which would grant him the power needed to finally create his own bloodline using seals. It would require the sacrifice of thousands, but he knew a city in Grass in which he could etch his seal, transmuting the populace into something truly awe-inspiring! There was a large system of natural caves underneath the city he could recreate in the shape of the seals he needed to do the job. He just didn't have the vitality right now to do so.

As the seal in the ground in front of him filled with blood, Yogin smiled gently and stripped his clothing, knowing it would probably be destroyed anyway and walked to the center where a small circle was at, the blood from his victims beginning to seep into it, finally. "Kanochi-kun! We are ready to begin!"

The large man with the bald head turned to his friend and grinned, finally squeezing the throat between his hands and relishing in the cartilage snapping as he erupted into the girl. He let his enjoyment fall to the ground and bowed to her in thanks for her accepting him as her lover.

He walked to the outside of the circle, ignoring his nakedness. All he usually wore was a pair of shorts, anyway. "Yogin-sama," twitch. "I will," twitch, "be here to serve when," twitch, "you are done." He quickly began to remove the bodies so their heads wouldn't contaminate the seal by adding elements that shouldn't be in there.

"Thank you, my friend." Yogin closed his eyes and tilted his head back. He did not know that a small clump of dirt had made it to the innermost circle that he was standing in, thus keeping the blood from meeting and closing that protective circle. "I am ready, Kanochi-kun! Activate the seal!" He commanded, preferring to keep his own power just so it could help in the transition and in case it helped dominate any possible fight. It shouldn't be the case with the seals, but one should always be prepared.

Of course, one should always double-check their preparations, too...

Kanochi twitched once and then shoved every ounce of chakra he could gather into the flowing blood as soon as it looked like the innermost circle was finished before the blood got soaked into the ground.

The entire array lit up with a purple and black light that looked as unholy as it felt. The remaining five women cried out in terror as black wraiths rose from the ground in a miasma-like cloak of smoke before rushing into themselves into five small circles that were each within an arm of a star in the seal, with Yogin in the middle, protected by his own circle.

Secondary seals all along the outside of the star began to glow bright red, binding the demons and channeling the power from the bubbling masses from the outside tips and going in, channeling all that power to Yogin.

The black clouds fell away like mist to reveal little girls that looked no more than eight, but with partially-matured bodies with breasts that were about the size of their fists and lush hair that went below their butts, catching the light and lightly glowing with the same dull radiance as the patches in the junctions between their legs. Each could pass as each other, marking them as quintuplets. The only differing characteristics were their hair colors, which also matched their eyes: red, black, green, blue and white. Each of the girls fell to their knees as pain unlike anything they had ever felt before hit them, making them cry out in anguish. In their eight hundred years of life, still children in a demon's eyes, symbolized by their new, human-like, appearances, they had never been subject to such horrible pain.

They were being changed, physically. Given human forms that matched their personal growths in human years as they originally had in demon form, but also matured because of the form they were getting forced to merge with in Yogin and especially because of the types of demons they had been.

Then, their power hit the inside circle where it was meant to form a shell around Yogin to change him like a caterpillar to a butterfly, a metamorphosis of body and strength, spirit and power.

But the circle had never fully formed.

The incomplete shell cracked and fractured, causing a chain reaction that destroyed the seal array from the inside out, leaving the summoned demons and Yogin all panting on the ground, their power lost as the seal had stolen it and then lost it to the earth around them.

The containment seals never stood a chance on their own.

The panting demons looked to the one who had been trying to steal their power like some common parasite, feeling their own energies slowly returning as the little remaining in the air found its way back to them. They were in new bodies that were weak, causing their upper brain functions to halt and forcing them to act by instinct, and the changes were far too new to hope for any semblance of mercy.

They snarled at the withered man, showing rows of normal, human teeth that glinted in the half-moon's light before they pounced. Yogin was too weak to summon the power to scream. And within the first two seconds, his soft organs were already being feasted upon as the demons used blunt nails to rip into his body easily, carving him and eating his inner flesh with innocent relish and giggling that was more in line with girls playing with dolls than a messy, bloody murder. Powerful fingers pierced tender flesh as they plucked out his eyes and moaned in ecstasy as though enjoying a wonderful delicacy as another one dug her fingers into the empty sockets and pulled the skull apart, savoring the jewel within and sharing it with her sisters.

Their voracious appetites were not nearly so quick to disappear as the old man, however. They turned their sights upon the large boulder of a man who was wondering how this was meant to help Yogin-sama since the old man didn't _look _any stronger.

Growling, the girls kicked off from the ground hard enough to leave five identical craters with their bare feet, crossing the eighteen-foot distance between the dessicated corpse and the large man in less than a second, knocking him back twenty feet as they began to rip into his body as well, using fingers to tear off hunks of meat and teeth to peel flesh from the muscle. He was dead before he hit the ground as eager little fingers dug into his eyes and cracked open his skull to get at what they learned was their favorite part. Like with the first, they carved into this one, enjoying the soft and tender parts of the body before cracking open the thick bones and sucking out the marrow.

After the six and a half minutes it took to eliminate the large man as their hunger abated, the five sisters found themselves content in the full feeling of their bellies. They slowed a little and gnawed on the bones gently as their ravenous, base needs were satisfied and they were left feeling momentarily drowsy.

They giggled in a drunken-like haze of rapture as the human blood filled them with energy like a sugar rush would to a normal child. Slowly, even sensually, they began to lick their victims' blood from each others' bodies until they were clean, finding great amusement in human bodies compared to the ones they had before. They had been able to take human form in the past, though usually larger, and had done many things, but they never truly felt them like this, before, able to feel such sensations from their own bodies and actions upon themselves. They had been able to take a human's form, but not actually _be _human. Such was the fate of succubi. They desired enjoyment and pleasure, but were never able to get more than a taste unless stolen from their victims. They stole life, power and their own sense of pleasures by causing it in others and stealing it from them all at once, originally being unable to feel any of it for themselves.

And now they could.

"Oh, look! Toys!" The redheaded girl cried out gleefully, hopping up and down as she pointed at the terrified women trapped in a cage that Kanochi had created. The five girls giggled and danced on their toes to the older women with an unnatural grace, spinning and twirling in innocent delight.

"Please! Let us go!" One scared woman begged as the five little girls danced around them, occasionally spinning and hopping about like experienced dancers, their hair waving in their passing like bright banners. The whole while, soft giggles seemed to come from everywhere, not just the five lithe bodies cavorting in innocent abandon.

"But we haven't even played yet!" The blue-haired girl pouted, stopping in front of the cage door and bending at the waist in a manner that was simply provocative and in no way innocent as her instincts were still that of her previous creation. The blue-haired girl instinctively squeezed her small breasts between her arms as she emphasized them, her hands falling just short of her waist and looking through long eyelashes at the other women. It was more effective on the bodies they had when they could control over how they looked, however.

No matter how small they were, or how childlike, they were demons whose original forms had been illusion masters that delighted in sin and debauchery. They were some of the most powerful emotions one could invoke in a mortal, especially a human, thus the strongest ones they could entice out of their victims to feed upon. The girls had been in scaly, frightening bodies that they could alter before Yogin began the merging process.

These new forms, altered beyond their human-related years, were naturally inclined to assist with that rather than requiring a power they no longer had, and they didn't have the experience to control their instincts like they did in their original bodies. Nor had they learned about moderation yet. They still took delight in the now without any care of what was to come and they were away without elder supervision. They weren't about to try to find their way home yet.

The blue-haired girl giggled and spun away like a top as the green-haired girl opened the door and all five began to dance and cavort around a few feet from the exit to possible freedom for the humans. They knew better than to go into a cage.

"_Come play with us_," the five chanted, not ceasing their dancing and ensnaring the remaining women as the light from the moon made their pale skin seem to glow with their hair. The girls seemed to leave misty shrouds of light as their hair moved, leaving trails in the air to show where they had been like a normal child with a sparkler during a festival. Even the grass seemed to begin glowing and the stars in the night sky suddenly seemed sharper and all the five adult women wanted was to lose themselves in the feelings of never having to think for themselves, or worries of any sort of responsibilities. "_Come play with us. Come play with us..._"

xXxXxXx

"Everyone stop!" Kakashi called out, sighing as he snapped his book on physics in relation to elemental techniques shut. Gai still wouldn't let him read his usual porn, and this was the only thing that could keep his mind occupied. This was one of the few books he could get on his list of approved material other than health magazines and anything purely on taijutsu. He was seriously putting a lot of thought into hollowing out the pages to fit Icha Icha inside without it being obvious. "Sakura, why aren't you moving around? Sasuke's been coming in straight at you the entire time and you haven't moved your feet from where they've been planted during the whole session."

"Ka-Kakashi-sensei," the pinkette stuttered, blushing lightly. "I'm ... er ... having feminine issues and it's making moving very painful."

Kakashi's single eyes darted to Sasuke's sudden smirk before it went away, then back to Sakura as Kiba snorted contemptuously.

"Sex isn't a feminine issue," the Inuzuka said. Seeing Sakura's blushing glare, Sasuke's cold stare and Kakashi's single eye on him, the boy shrugged. "I'm an Inuzuka. Did you really think I couldn't smell what you've been up to? You may have bathed afterwards, but I can still smell it on both of you. You're still bleeding a bit, even."

Kakashi hopped up and away from his team, landing on a branch in a crouch. There was no way he could let any of them know that was enough to risk getting him in trouble with Gai. His dry spell and erotica ban was going to cause a lot of problems soon. "With Sakura unable to do more than get beaten during a spar, I'm canceling practice today, along with missions. Normal time tomorrow."

Just as Kakashi was about to leap away, Kiba's voice stopped him. "Hey! Wait a minute!"

"Hm? You say something?" Kakashi asked, hoping it would give him the opportunity to run off.

"I'm sick of this!" The Inuzuka yelled, getting red in the face. "You haven't taught us a damn thing! All you have us do is sit here waiting for you and then you punish us if we wait to show up when you do, then you have us do _light_ exercises and spar before doing pathetic missions! You're our _sensei_! Why aren't you teaching us anything, damn it!"

"Hmm," Kakashi drew out, looking as though he were thinking of something. "You know, you're right. I suppose I can – What the hell!" He looked behind the team and jerked in surprise, causing the others to spin around, only to see nothing. When they turned back, he was gone.

"What the hell! You damn bastard! I'm going to kick your asparagus-looking ass! Do you hear me, Kakashi-baka!" Kiba ranted and yelled as both he and Akamaru stomped away from the training ground, leaving Sasuke and Sakura alone, much to the former's delight and the latter's confusion.

Sasuke dragged the girl by the hand over to the trees where he plopped himself down and then pulled himself out, much to Sakura's bug-eyed shock. "Sasuke-kun, what-"

"I want another one," he told her.

_**'What the hell! Suck your **_**own****_ cock!'_** A quiet, impossible-to-hear voice yelled in Sakura's head. It was a white, chalky figure that was seriously beginning to wonder if they shouldn't be playing for the other team. _**'Ino has been a lot friendlier lately,'**_ the voice tried to suggest. **_'Just think of how female she is and without a penis!'_**

When she hesitated a moment to try and figure out what she was suddenly feeling, he frowned. "So you aren't the right one, after all."

"No!" Sakura corrected quickly, dropping painfully to her knees and wincing. "I ... was just thinking of new techniques, that's all!" Before he had the opportunity to say anything and as soon as she could rush to give him some kind of excuse, she immediately lowered herself and began to work him again. She tried to hold her breath since he was sweaty and to ignore the taste of it as well. A minute later, almost to the dot, he finished.

"Meet me at my place at seven for dinner, Sakura," Sasuke said, petting the pink-haired girl's head affectionately. It confused her greatly to find that she was happy for such a gesture, even though it didn't quite seem right. She didn't realize it was the same way she scratched a cat's head until he scratched her behind the ear. "I will pick up dinner and we'll eat it there while we take a bath."

Sakura nodded quickly, dismissing the thoughts of cats and pets as she got her first date with Sasuke-kun! "Of course! Do you want me to bring anything?"

Sasuke smirked mentally, having a wonderful idea. "Yes. I want you to pick up an adult movie for us to watch. Get one you'd like to reenact. I also want you to pick up a few toys to learn with and various things that look interesting."

_**'I say we introduce him into fem-dom,'**_ the voice stated quickly. **_'Seriously. You get the gag and elephant-sized dildo, I'll get the Lyme and shovels.'_**

Sakura blushed fiercely, having the strangest feelings competing within her. It was ... familiar. As though it was something she had long-ago known and been forced to forget or something on the edge of her perception. "Er, I'm not allowed-"

"I want to see if you're willing to do this for me," Sasuke interrupted her. "It's ultimately a small thing. I just want to see if you're willing to do it. It's embarrassing, but it's important for a wife to do whatever her husband needs, right?"

"Well ... I suppose when you put it that way...," Sakura mumbled, understanding his logic. _'It _is_ a wife's duty to serve her husband in all things. I guess this is just an easy way for him to make sure I'm measuring up like when we made love. He just wants to make sure I don't forget.'_ Sakura nodded resolutely. "Alright, Sasuke-kun."

_**'Damn it! Why can't you hear me?'**_

Sasuke allowed himself to smirk as he walked away from the girl. It was time he headed out to do his own research.

xXxXxXx

"Gah!" Ino yelled out furiously, shuddering and shaking herself violently even as her hands wiped her body down for the third time in the last minute. "I fucking hate spiders!"

Naruto and Hinata weren't much better off, to be honest. All three of them were down to the barest of clothing at the ANBU training ground in the nook Naruto had created with a Doton jutsu. Since it was right next to the Forest of Death, Naruto had dragged them all there after their battle against a horde of spiders the size of large dogs and some livestock. Like cows, ox and Jiraiya.

Had it just been that, they would probably have been okay, even with the vast amount of webbing they were forced to go through. But it wasn't just that. They had wound up fighting against one that had an egg sack on her back and that egg sack had burst open, leaving them covered in tiny little spiders that were in various sizes, but mostly about the size of an Aburame's kikaichu bugs. And they were alive. And they went everywhere.

Ino's scream of horror had actually made the hundreds of large spiders retreat several feet before they caught themselves.

The clear, tiny bodies crawled all over them, and they still felt their movements, even though they hadn't found any recently. However, Anko's assurances of, "they aren't poisonous you brats ... I don't think," hadn't made them feel better, or assured. So, they were now at the lake edge, stripping down to what they felt comfortable in, and hoping to wash the little bastards out of their clothes and hair.

Naruto and Hinata had just hopped into the cool waters naked and were scrubbing at their hair furiously since the latter had checked with her Byakugan to ensure no one was around and she didn't mind those present seeing her body since they were either female or Naruto.

Had the Sandaime been aware the ANBU training ground was totally empty, he would have probably ended up in a very foul mood since there should have been six off-duty ANBU there at that time for the training he had demanded they start.

Ino followed their example scant seconds later, though she kept her panties on. Naruto had already touched her chest with their chakra control exercises, and done many things with his hands there, but he had not actually seen her lower area yet. And she felt she could just remove her panties in the water while he had plenty of experience with seeing breasts already, so it wasn't a big deal since he wasn't even paying attention to her. She was far more comfortable with her teammates than she would have ever thought possible, but somehow, it just wasn't that big of a deal around them anymore to be topless. Hours of constant groping has that kind of effect on a girl.

At least this time, she wasn't bound to a tree.

"It wasn't _that_ bad," Anko grunted, highly amused. She wasn't planning on telling them that she had used her snake summons to send that spider to them for just that reason. They had to deal with all sorts of uncomfortable things in the field. And this was pretty tame in comparison. _'Those girls should be _thanking_ me for doing that. They've both got a clone shampooing their hair!_'

Kurenai wanted to disapprove, but honestly, she was half-tempted to join them even though she had been a hundred feet away from the hundreds of baby spiders. She hated the eight-legged bastards on general principle. And, it wasn't as if her Genin didn't already do worse things together in the buff, or near to it.

"Maybe not for _you_," Ino bitched lightly, shuddering again. _'God his hands are incredible!'_ Ino was rather fond of having her hair shampooed for her, it seemed. So much so that she didn't even care that Naruto's own enjoyment was prodding her firm backside. As long as all it did was prod, she considered it a fair trade-off. _'Hell, if he keeps this up, I may just wriggle for him in appreciation.'_

"So, what have we learned today?" Anko asked, grinning as she let her feet soak in the water as she sat herself down on a rock.

"Other than we hate you?" Naruto grumbled.

"I definitely want a better weapon," Hinata said. "Going in close with shuriken or kunai was not a good idea, but it was all we had. Senbon were useless with their bodies and I had no idea where their pressure points were. And there were far too many to – Oh, _yes_ that's good, Naruto-kun! Er, to use jutsu on." The girl was losing herself to Naruto's scalp massage, and her purrs of approval were pushing Ino into a greater enjoyment of it even as the Jounin shifted closer to one another subconsciously.

"Good girl," Anko said. "Against humans, kunai and shuriken are some of our most used weapons. More than seven out of ten ninja use those, and those only, along with a few general tools like ninja wire, blood and soldier pills and the occasional trick that an individual likes. But, against any of those ninja who use weapons or are willing to put the time and effort in for the more esoteric things, you'll find yourself short. And the only reason that ratio isn't higher is because learning at least one weapon is a requirement for Jounin, whether you use it or not."

"You could have told us this instead of making us fight a ton of carnivorous spiders," Ino grumbled, pressing her body against her clone's, trying to get him to scrub her scalp a little harder. He was being nice and gentle, but she rather enjoyed the experience. _'I'm not made of glass, nor am I some delicate doll! Work those fingers to the bone, Naruto-kun!'_

"It wouldn't have had as strong of an impact," Kurenai explained. "We can tell a person they have to train harder or they'll die. But until they come across an opponent that puts their life in danger, they won't take it as strongly as if we just told them. A person can get into all of the life-or-death situations to feel the rush of adrenaline and the fear of battle, but until that happens for real, you'll never _truly_ feel the real fear, or the real desperation, that such a situation will cause you to feel. Telling you would have been like a parent telling you to clean your room. Without understanding, you wouldn't care as much."

"Did we use anything special before?" Ino asked, referencing the future and letting the clone tip her backwards to rinse her hair. It took more effort than she would have thought to not growl in pleasure. She enjoyed being held by him and the feeling of safety his arms, even as a clone, provided her. Not to mention the fact that he was pampering her in a way she hadn't been before.

"No," Hinata said with a frown. "All I know for sure is I need something for mid and long range, I think. Taijutsu is good for close combat, but I am currently almost defenseless against anything else. My training was mostly support and medical other than taijutsu. I suppose a close-range weapon wouldn't be amiss, either."

"I want a sword," Naruto said happily. He was _finally_ going to get a big-ass sword!

"Too bad, kid," Anko told him, crushing his current dreams of showing Kisame what a _real_ swordsman could do. "Everyone and their grannies wants a sword. The fact is it takes a long time to get good at them, and there are too many people who will either be better, or know how to fight against them. Hell, that's why ANBU have them as standard equipment. It ensures you can stand up to most weapon users. If you want one, fine, but you'll follow Hinata's example and get something else, preferably two."

"What about something like Asuma's trench knives?" Hinata asked him, hoping to give him a compromise. "He also has a wind affinity and he could probably help you with them. You don't tend to fight from a distance, either, but when you fight, it's usually up close and personal. Even most of your jutsu are close range stuff."

Naruto nodded, deciding it was better to not argue with women when he was so severely outnumbered. He _would_ be getting a sword though. "Alright. I'll see if he has any ideas, then."

"What do you think would be good for me?" Ino asked, swimming closer to the other two after her clone disappeared. "I've never really even considered another weapon before."

"Just remember it's not just about looking cool or flashy," Anko explained and warned at the same time. "Weapons are meant to do a job. Not look good while doing it. Hell, we're ninja. We aren't even supposed to be seen. One of my favorites weapons is actually a garroting wire. So think about what works with your natural talents and even your personalities and temperaments."

Kurenai looked to the sky and then got Anko's attention, tapping her left wrist with two fingers from her right hand. "Alright you three. It's a little earlier than normal, but we're going to break for lunch. We'll meet at one at the Hokage Tower. That gives you about two to two and a half hours to eat and prepare for a mission."

"We'll be there," the trio of Genin said as they double-checked their hair, making sure there weren't any more crawling passengers. Once the two Jounin left, Naruto stepped out of the water and to their equipment. One good thing about having so many seals on his body for the majority of their items, it meant that anything chakra-sensitive was sealed away. So, rather than wash their clothes, which would force them to wait when they were all hungry, he instead pulled heavily on his chakra and enveloped all of the clothing, causing anything that may have been there to die as any insect or bug would have been crushed by the pressure he applied.

"Alright, ladies," Naruto said with a smirk as he turned to the two girls in the water. "Clothes are bug free. However, if you want them, you've gotta come and get them." He slowly stepped back and sat down, smiling as the naked, or near-naked in Ino's case, girls came for their clothing. _'I love this team. And I really love Ino's white panties.'_

xXxXxXx

"Mom! I'm home! You here?" Sakura called out, peeking her head through the door and trying to figure out where her mother was.

Her father was, as usual, out of Konoha. One of his biggest jobs was to oversee a caravan for basic supplies for Konoha as its lead merchant. Usually, it was food, but occasionally, like now, it was supplies for some big thing the ninja force would be doing in another five months that she really didn't care about; Sakura rather disliked listening to her parents prattle on about business. However, she had a black plastic bag that she really didn't want anyone to know about, and that meant ensuring her mother was somewhere where she could race through the living room and then up the stairs to her bedroom before getting caught.

No such luck.

"Sakura! Welcome back! You're home early," Sakura's pink-haired mother said with a smile, coming from the kitchen doorway, four feet away.

Haruno Aiyoku was proud of her daughter for wanting to empower herself and become a strong, capable woman. A girl should always strive for some form of power, be it political, social or in Sakura's case, personal. She really felt it was best to be a kept woman who knew how to control her husband, but Aiyoku would admit there was an appeal to knowing a woman could take what she wanted because of her personal strength. Aiyoku herself was a powerful social character because of her husband's mercantile position and the power and prestige that came with such a necessary job. At least one as important as his. He was the person in charge of basically all civilian and non-restricted, ninja-related goods. Basically, anything that the public was allowed to see. The knowledge that this woman also held power over her husband, or at least enough to be of influence, ensured she generally got good prices and was usually in the center of the gossip hub without being the topic of discussion. It also meant she was able to wield that power to keep many other civilian women sufficiently cowed.

Her daughter, sadly, had not come into Aiyoku's talents naturally. She was heavily picked on in school in her younger years and had been getting to a point where she would likely do various disgraceful things to be accepted, but Aiyoku wouldn't stand for such a thing! Not when children didn't know how to keep such things to themselves!

She had been making plans with her daughter's training when Ino had found and befriended Sakura, teaching her the correct way and then she had dominated the social groups at school ever since, taking on a completely new personality that was more feminine and proper than the tomboy she had been at the time and far less violent and definitely more interested in boys than she was then. Aiyoku could honestly say she was proud of her daughter in that. Going almost overnight from a friendless girl who was beginning to accept any form of companionship to the pride of the pack in the social strata of her peer group.

"Yea, Kakashi-sensei gave us the day off early," Sakura said, trying to keep herself from blushing or looking too scared. "Erm, could you get me a pan? I'm wanting to use it to try a chakra control exercise."

Aiyoku's eyes narrowed as her daughter wouldn't step through the door. It was beyond obvious she was attempting to hide something. She had done the same thing after finding a mangy kitten once and Aiyoku had forced her to throw it into a trashcan to show just how inappropriate such mongrels were and had instead been rebuked and the cat taken somewhere. However, rather than asking, which could easily backfire as it had then, she simply nodded and turned to go into the kitchen, and then quickly spun back around as soon as she heard the door opening further. "What size pan do you-"

Then she saw the black plastic bag in her wide-eyed daughter's hands.

"What the hell do you think you are doing, Sakura?" Aiyoku shrieked, quickly looking out the door to see if anyone had watched her daughter bring the iconic black bag inside and then swiftly shut the door. Only a few stores used bags like that, and each and every single one was of the adult variety. "If you think I'm going to let you become a raging pervert like some common street whore and ruin our good name, I'll make you regret it!"

As Sakura flinched, holding the bag in both hands behind her back in a vain attempt at hiding the incriminating evidence, Aiyoku growled and walked forward, spinning her daughter around and snatching the bag, spilling the contents on the ground.

Aiyoku got angrier as she picked up each item, sifting through her deviant daughter's depravity. She wound up with two boxes of condoms, five different lubrications, a topical anesthetic in a very large container, flavored edible underwear, a bottle of mild aphrodisiac, two graphic novels, one of which had two men in compromising positions and a video entitled _'Doctor No Meets Nurse Naughty'_. Two larger packages that appeared to be cosplay outfits to match the movie completed the horrors in her daughter's debauchery.

Sakura yelped as her mother's backhand found her cheek.

_**'That damn harpy! It's easy kid! The throat is a soft target! So's the eyes! Ino had the right of it! Jab with the fingers and don't forget to growl! Growl like a wildebeest!'**_ The chalky outline was trying its best to help. She was currently using a kunai to hollow out the eyes of a corpse that looked just like the larger woman.

"You would ruin our name?" Aiyoku seethed, slowly raising, her hands clenched and shaking. "Do you have any idea how many people probably saw you with that bag and are laughing about your depravity! You _dare_ dishonor _my_ family!"

"Sasuke-kun asked me to!" Sakura quickly yelled. She had been hoping to keep things quiet, but mainly because she wanted to use this time while Sasuke-kun was with her to make him happy and not risk going to another woman. However, her mother had always pushed her daughter to win the boy's heart, so it only made sense to explain. "We're dating now and he wanted me to get it!"

Aiyoku lowered her hand from the near-slap she had been about to give her daughter and suddenly engulfed her wonderful girl in her arms. "Oh, you dear, sweet, _wonderful_ girl! I knew you could do it! No man could ever resist women like us!" Aiyoku's eyes sparkled as she seemed to move faster than any Jounin could ever hope to and picked up all the naughty items and took her daughter to the kitchen table. "Tell me everything! When did you get together? Why does he want you to get these things? Does he expect you to be using them?"

Sakura, despite having her mother's approval and knowing that she would be okay with everything couldn't help but be highly embarrassed by what she had done. For civilians, it was illegal to have sexual relationships until one was eighteen, thirteen for men, or unless one was legal and they were within a four-year age difference. However, as ninja, they were considered adults the moment they got a real hitai-ate. The only exceptions were bloodline-carrying people. If they were a part of a clan, they usually couldn't for fear of losing control over it. If they were like Sasuke, then it was encouraged. Heavily encouraged, that is.

"Erm, we started dating the other day," Sakura said, unable to look at her mother who was watching her with an expression of happiness. It felt too much like she was being judged and there were some things you never wanted a parent to talk with you about. Still, old habits die hard, and Sakura had been drilled from a very young age to obey her mother. "When it started, he kissed me and said he couldn't respect fangirls and wanted me to be his because I was a kunoichi. He said that, because he's the last Uchiha and has to revive his clan, he can't play House with girls and any girl has to be in it for real, so he told me it would be as real as possible, like we were already married."

Haruno Aiyoku squealed in happiness. Any member of Team Eight, and most serious individuals, would have said it sounded like a pig's squeal. Most of Sasuke's fangirls would recognize it amongst each other and knew it, usually, to be the mating call of a rival. Odd how those things work out. "Go on!"

"Er ... Well, we do ... Everything a couple would normally do, including ... Er ..." Sakura blushed heavily, feeling mortified that she was actually having this discussion with her mother.

"Has he made you a woman yet, Sakura-chan?" Aiyoku asked, looking more serious than giddy at the moment.

_**'Why the hell are you okay with this?'**_ That quiet, almost imperceptible voice tried to roar inside of Sakura's head.

Sakura nodded, looking down at her hands that were in her lap. "Yea, he has," she said quietly, not really finding the memory as happy as she had always thought it would be. "And, he said as a way to prove I was serious and not just saying it, he wanted to test me, so I had to go and buy ... certain things, including a video to reenact." Sakura swallowed heavily, feeling incredibly small. Like she was a little girl playing a big-girl game and not measuring up. _'If I had thought about it, I could have gotten that one for him to return the favor. But, I don't want him to think I'm selfish...'_

"This is wonderful news!" Aiyoku praised, closing her eyes and relishing in the feeling of pride in Sakura she felt at that moment. "We'll have to get you prenatal vitamins and fertility medications. We can't let the boy ignore his duty. Perhaps Miroku from the hospital will help me. She owes me for not blabbing about her affairs with various Genin boys."

"Um," Sakura began nervously, not really sure why her mother's monologue was making her more so. "I ... since you know now ..."

"Hm? What is it?" Aiyoku asked, looking at her daughter curiously. "I'm your mother, Sakura-chan. It's my duty and my honor to help you learn how to prepare for your role as a wife and eventual mother. You're also a _woman_ now! Be proud! It's okay if you enjoyed it."

Sakura blushed, somehow feeling sick at her mother's pride. "Erm. Well, that actually happened this morning," she explained. "It ... it wasn't very nice. It hurt a lot and he didn't seem ... He just got up and left right after and he hasn't kissed me except the once and-"

"Sakura," Aiyoku said, sounding firm and disappointed. "It was your first time. It was meant to hurt! He's probably completely new to sex and needs guidance! And not every man is capable of showing constant love and devotion! Men who do that are weak!"

Aiyoku shook her head, sounding suddenly disgusted. "Sasuke is an Uchiha. He's too important to care for your needs right now! You think you're the only woman who is left unsatisfied during the act? No! Your duty to your husband is to give him _his_ happiness and enjoyment and try to get your own. If you have to, keep him going so he can do it. You don't fuck him for love! You do it for duty and because of the status and life he can provide for you! If you must, you lay back and take it while thinking of Kage and country!"

Sakura was wide-eyed and somehow horrified at what she was hearing. She wanted to yell and scream and tell her mother that wasn't how it was supposed to be! That wasn't what was supposed to exist between a man and a woman! It was all supposed to _mean_ something! She was supposed to be _important_ to her husband!

"Don't you _dare_ screw this up," Aiyoku growled at her daughter, standing up and towering over the shaking girl. "Uchiha Sasuke is rich, is of the highest class of Konoha citizen, he has political power and is a strong ninja who will only get stronger! He will not only provide for _you_, but he will provide for _us_, too! That is a woman's position in life; to marry as powerfully as she can and do her best to get her and her family the highest status she can possibly help attain! You will serve Uchiha-sama! I will get you the other materials if you need them to learn to better serve him, but you will _not_ screw this up! You _will_ marry that boy and bear his children! Do you understand me?"

Sakura nodded shakily, tears trailing down her cheeks. The day had started so well! She had everything she had ever wanted, and then it got bad, and then worse! She had hoped her mother would help her understand what that feeling was that said something wasn't right, or could assure her everything would somehow get better, but she was instead disheartened and even more unsure of things.

Sakura loved Sasuke-kun! She did! But ... there was ... something. Something about the way he touched her and looked at her. It wasn't _wrong_! She would never say being with Sasuke-kun was _wrong_! But ... it wasn't ... it was _not right_. When he was telling her what he wanted her to purchase, she had felt she was just on the cusp of understanding it, but it had been gone the moment he told her what he wanted and she was only too happy to instantly work on her plans.

Why, when she had what she wanted, did this feel so ... not right?

"I'll be a good wife, Momma," Sakura said, blinking and staring at nothing ahead of her. "I'll be a good wife. And a good mother with many of Sasuke-kun's babies."

"That's my girl, Sakura," Aiyoku said, hugging her daughter warmly before going to make a good lunch. If Sakura was a proper Haruno, she'd be eating for two soon enough, so Aiyoku needed to get into the habit of making plenty of food.

It was _not right_.

xXxXxXx

"You believe they've already progressed to a physical stage?" Sarutobi asked Kakashi, not sure he had heard correctly. He wasn't even sure Sasuke would be _able_ to do the deed, much less be _willing_ to! Today's youth were getting to be so much more cavalier in their dalliances. In his day, things like this simply didn't happen.

"Yup," Kakashi said, sitting very close to the Hokage's desk so the man wouldn't notice what that knowledge did to him. It was bad enough he had been found out by the receptionist, an ugly woman who was there mostly when the pretty one wasn't working and who now felt Kakashi had rather ... strong feelings for her, but the Hokage was someone who would ask questions. Awkward, uncomfortable questions. Though, with his porn ban, he had _almost_ been willing to accept her silent and subtle offer where she dove over the desk, trying to rip his clothes off.

"How are you sure?"

"Sakura was having difficulties during our sparring session and Kiba pointed out they smell like sex after she stated it was feminine problems. When called out, it wasn't denied. Since you gave me the mission, I felt it best to now tell you it was completed as of either last night or this morning since she stayed with him at his house overnight."

The Sandaime didn't let it show outwardly, but he was of two minds of this whole situation. On one hand, Sasuke now had a very strong bond and reason for staying in the village and was therefore much less likely to turn traitor to Orochimaru. On the other, however, he had hoped the two would take their time and take a good while before they got to this point. While it was common knowledge in their business that kunoichi matured faster, it was also true that it was directly related to how much they trained. Not a single kunoichi other than female clan members, on average, could generally say they trained nearly enough to be ready for sex so early in their lives. Not enough, anyway, to make it any less painful or more enjoyable. And it also didn't help that she still had a fangirl attitude rather than that of a serious woman, making it less likely that she was mentally mature enough for such an act. He was only aware of one, non-clan affiliated female Genin, Batta Tenten, who had taken her initial training as seriously during the Academy.

Still, he got what he wanted, simply much earlier than he had wanted it. And he really couldn't blame either of them. It never would have happened, quite literally, without his intervention if he believed Naruto and Hinata's story, which he did. He had watched the two a bit more often and, other than a few nose bleeds and passing out, the two showed far, _far_ too much ability to be lying. Perhaps he should provide them with ANBU identities so they can obtain more questionable items without undue attention.

"Will Sakura-san be okay?" Sarutobi asked, putting his thoughts on the amorous couple aside for now even as he made a note so as not to forget in his personal code. "She didn't receive any excessive damage?"

"She seemed to be fine," Kakashi said, blinking. "She didn't say anything about excessive pain or anything, and I didn't notice any strong scents of blood." There was a nagging feeling like he probably should have asked, or escorted her to the hospital, just to be sure. But if it had been a problem for her, she would have said something, surely. Of course, the fact that he left right after finding out and she was too embarrassed to admit what had happened probably hadn't helped.

"Good, then," the older man said with a sigh. "Children these days are growing up so quickly. I know she had been looking forward to this, based on your report for their dreams for the future, but I still find it troubling that a girl can be so ready to get into adult matters so early in life."

"Was this what you were hoping to achieve?" Kakashi asked, a little unsure in questioning his boss again. He hadn't taken to well to it the last time. "Getting the two together?"

"Something that required that, yes," Hiruzen stated, packing his tobacco into his pipe.

"I don't understand," Kakashi acknowledged. "Wouldn't it just be easier to get civilian women who can bear children safely rather than a younger girl? Or to perhaps surgically put his Uchiha swimmers where they belong to find their own way?" The last thing Kakashi wanted to do right then was use coarse or crude language.

"This has nothing to do with reviving his clan," Sarutobi said, his voice low and firm. "This is about something far more important that, quite frankly, is classified."

Kakashi's one eye seemed to narrow and the outline on his mask showed he was frowning. "Sir. With all due respect, if you have plans or goals regarding my students, I feel I should be made aware of them."

"Your job is to do as you are told, Hatake-san," Sarutobi bit out, allowing his anger to show on his face. "I have been watching your training methods. You show up just as late to your team as you do everything else and have, thus far, taught them nothing but to spar with one another. If and when you begin teaching, thus truly making them your team, I may be more inclined to bring you into the fold. Until then, all I see is a bunch of sitting on their asses, Academy-level physical regimens and the occasional mission."

Kakashi flinched as his leader's face was suddenly closer to his own, leaning over his desk and radiating an intent to harm the spiky-haired Jounin that made his little ninja shrivel and hide. The fact that the old man had begun using foul language also showed just how upset he was, though Kakashi really couldn't explain what had caused it. "Thus far, you are a disgrace to your position and the only reason you are as aware as you are is because it is easier than going around you and giving your team orders myself."

The door crashed open as Team Eight trooped in, this time Anko winning the race with Naruto to be the one to kick it in, only to halt as they felt the thick tension in the air and saw the Hokage leaning over his desk menacingly and Kakashi looking up with his single visible eye wide. Something apparently wasn't going well.

"You are dismissed, Hatake-san," Sarutobi said, settling down in his seat and looking for the world as if he had not just been intimidating one of Konoha's strongest ninja.

Kakashi swallowed and stood, his green jumpsuit no longer showing any form of his previous state and walked zombie-like out of the room. He planned to go to the one place he could think, where hopefully, his lost team and sensei could somehow give him guidance.

"Team Eight, you have a mission to Kiyoko Pass, Gold Sector that you will leave for in about three weeks. This is a low B-rank mission, but only because of the specifics. It should last about a week. Here is your mission scroll," the Hokage handed it to Anko, who looked positively giddy to _finally_ have her requested mission and pseudo-punishment put into play. "You are to practice your new identities and then leave within three days of the date on file so that you should arrive in time to accept your reservation. We paid handsomely for taking them from those who had them, so do _not_ mess up your identities. This will be your current mission," he handed a second scroll to the group, much smaller than the first.

"Two missions?" Naruto asked.

"The first is to give you a real-world exercise to see if you are performing and meeting expectations on your future goals," Sarutobi explained. "Normally, I'd have given your mission scroll later, but felt it best to give you a little more time to practice your identities just to play it safer. Normally, I'd give it to a couple of ANBU, but this _is_ what you've been training to do in many respects. The other is your current mission."

"It is?" Naruto asked, trying to peek at the scroll Anko held, only to have the purple-haired woman shove his head down and then sit on it, reading as he squirmed and tried to get free. She only allowed him that after he handed over a skewer of dango from one of his many hidden summoning tattoos.

"A merchant caravan from Grass country arrived this morning and said that their usual camping spot was found to have several mutilated remains and some strange markings on the ground like something large and heavy had been dragged about. They are worried about what kind of animals may have caused that since they also found a rather large cage. We've been receiving a few other reports of masticated human remains in the same area. We are assigning you to find out what is happening."

Anko looked oddly disappointed with the news. "We're investigating a bunch of wild animal attacks? Wolves? Bears? What?"

"No," the Hokage said, puffing away on his pipe. "All evidence suggests all victims were eaten by other humans."

You could actually _see_ the shivers race up Ino's body as her brain connected the dots. "You're saying you're sending us to check up on a bunch of _cannibals_?" The blonde girl squeaked.

"It could also be some sort of evil, man-eating monkey," Anko offered helpfully. "The reports are from a guard on the caravan who is also an experienced hunter. The teeth marks are obviously omnivore, so they eat plant _and_ animal. The shape just appears human-like. So it could be a monkey. Monkeys can be evil, too. They fling poo, you know."

Ino shuddered as a mental picture of monkeys ruling over the world and enslaving humans formed in her head.

"Your mission is to go and find out what's going on," Sarutobi said, believing this to be little actual threat. The bodies found had almost all of their muscle intact, and only the soft flesh and insides had been eaten and all the bodies were ripped rather than cut, which showed a lack of basic tools, suggesting animal rather than human, which would go for the meat, most often. Otherwise, he wouldn't put the team in such a situation. "If you find the animals responsible, you are to kill them. If it turns out to be human or more than you can handle, you may return and a more experienced team can complete it for you."

The old Hokage ignored the glares coming from four-fifths of Team Eight for showing such little faith in them while the fifth member was currently envisioning peeling bananas for a giant orangutan with an Uchiha-like ego. "Dismissed."

"Alright you three," Anko said, clapping her hands together once they left the tower. "This is the real deal! Get your mission packs and stock up on any last-minute supplies and meet at the North Gate in one hour!"

"Got ours," Naruto and Hinata said together while Naruto continued with a smirk. "The beautiful wonders of storage seals, right?"

"Smart-ass," Kurenai snorted as Anko glared. The purple-haired woman really didn't like seals. "We've got to get ours, so we'll still meet in an hour."

"Not a problem. I want to pick up some more food anyway," Naruto said. He and Hinata left for the bank to withdraw a substantial amount of cash. Once a week found Naruto buying enough for more than a month of all the basic needs in regards to food and storing them away, along with kunai, shuriken, ninja wire and various other tools for when things got bad and there was a shortage of everything imaginable.

Of course, his ramen stash was hidden from Hinata...

xXxXxXx

"We're going in ... _there_?" Chouji asked, his bag of chips dropping to the ground in his scared shock. He even ignored the creature that rushed from the bushes to snatch the bag away and carry it off to places unknown. He would have been upset if the creature didn't look like some sort of lizard with two heads that had begun fighting over the bag. And he'd rather they head off with the chips than the scorpion-like tail to have hit him.

In front of Team Ten was a large cave entrance, open enough for some summons to enter if they chose to. However, even with the bright, morning sun out, they could only see approximately ten feet into the mouth of the cave, which was then covered in shadows the likes of which the Nara beside him could almost feel envious of, if he were more inclined to care.

Chouji's fear, however, came from the growling and snarling he could faintly hear from deep within. He looked to his left, where Shikamaru was attempting to stare into the sky through the canopy of the trees, and then to his right, where Shino was staring into the inky blackness that the bug-user was almost sure was somehow moving.

"This, Team, is known as the Pits of Despair. This is where we'll be spending that week training I was telling you about."

Shikamaru clicked his tongue, letting his head drop to look into the cave himself. "Che, troublesome. Why are we going into a place like this when you had a team of ANBU help us get here?"

Asuma looked to the five cloaked and masked individuals around them, each one looking around and waiting for any hints of the large predators in the area that may be coming for the group of humans. "Well, the Forest of Death is a pretty dangerous place..."

"Then why are _we_ here?" Shikamaru asked. He absently kicked a snake that was beginning to wrap around his leg into the trees, ignoring the indignant hissing as it went. The shadow-user was almost positive it glared at him as it went.

Asuma looked down with a smile and ruffled the genius' spiky hair. "You're here to survive!" The chain-smoking Jounin stealthily used his affectionate action to grab a scorpion by its tail from Shikamaru's shoulder and threw it into the trees behind them all. His mother would kill the Jounin if he allowed Shikamaru to die. At least while Asuma was there.

"Asuma-san, perhaps you should hurry things along?" Cat suggested, her sword impaling a rather poisonous, thirteen-foot snake as it readied to launch at the children. Even then, she didn't remove her eyes from the glinting eyes of the large creature hiding in the shadows, watching them. Whatever the beast was, it had _four_ eyes on its head.

"Right!" Asuma handed each member of the group a scroll. "Those are each a map of this place, but only of the tunnels. There will be parts of each that are different. Your job is to follow the various maps, eventually making it out of the cave system."

He handed them a small metal box, opening it to show twelve stoppered vials with pictures of various animals on the caps. "This is an anti-venom kit. I suggest keeping that very safe."

"This is such a drag," Shikamaru stated. He stomped on a tarantula-like spider that seemed to be as large as his head, wishing he had stayed in bed. Even his mother wasn't this bad. She'd probably make him do chores, possibly some shopping, maybe even serve tea while she spoke with her book-reading club of other troublesome women, but it wouldn't have been this.

"Nah, it's not _all_ that bad," Asuma said. "Chuunin who are a bit more advanced sometimes come here ever since Mitarashi Anko first found it." Granted, that was because the crazy woman used this place to hold Chuunin _exams_, but that wouldn't help boost his team's morale.

"What can we expect inside?" Shino asked, not sure if he preferred the man's smoking or this, but heavily leaning towards being happy instead. He used his clan techniques to control a centipede the size of his arm to send it on its way, flinching when a small tiger snatched it up and ran off with it. So much for the 'humane' approach. He blinked as he saw an alligator from a bog rise up and snapped its jaws, devouring a duck that was resting on the surface.

"Good question. There are a few things to watch out for. One, is a large section known as the Fire Swamp. There are flame bursts from the ground there and the ground is extremely hot, but not enough to catch something on fire. Just try not to stand still. The next thing to watch out for is what we call Lightning Sand, though you'll know it by a more common name as quicksand. I won't tell you why we have the distinction."

Shikamaru grumbled, tightening his mission pack as Shino tilted his head. "Anything else, sensei?"

"Yes. There are the usual cave nasties like bats, spiders and such, but you'll also have to watch out for rats. They aren't normal rats, though. They're as large as an Inuzuka's dogs and attack in packs. Their skulls are hard as hell, too, so go for soft spots if you get surrounded, if unable to escape. They're pretty resistant to fire, too. So don't bother trying that. You'll recognize them from their red coats."

"How long should this take?" Chouji asked.

"Depends on how you follow the maps and how you end up fighting. Average time is about a week," Asuma said.

"I hate you, sensei," Shikamaru grumbled, walking forward. "I really do." Then he was engulfed in the shadows and the forest around them all went silent for all of two seconds.

"ROAR!"

"Troublesome!"

xXxXxXx

"Kukuku!" Orochimaru giggled like a schoolgirl as he saw his new warriors with cursed seals of their own. It was weaker than his usual seal by nearly a third, and had no second form, but it still nearly doubled their raw power and he had been able to add in designs to include painkillers and a natural healing ability, to help them go longer and harder. Their basic goals while the seals are active are 'take as many down with me as possible'. The brainwashing function had been a much larger success when compared to the previous version, as well.

These soldiers, in Orochimaru's thoughts, were going to be his true surprise. While not as strong, they were more resilient.

The Snake Sannin had been thinking long and hard about his plans for the invasion in five and a half months. He was worried that he wasn't doing enough. He had his own village and most of Suna to make the assault, plus plans for summoning some rather large snakes, but he felt, for some reason, it would be very close. And he didn't believe the odds were stacked in his favor.

That was when he realized he never really left things up to chance and, as much as he hated to admit it, while he had thought this was the perfect plan before, he was now not totally sure, and he didn't understand where that worry came from. When he considered the invasion, he realized he had an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.

So, he sat down and simply thought. For a full day, he took time out of his schedule and tried to decide what his goals were. Immediately, he knew he wanted to kill his old sensei, the Sandaime Hokage, seal the Uchiha for use as a future vessel and destroy Konoha.

Destroy Konoha, however, was where he realized a wrinkle had cropped up in his planning. What, exactly, did that mean? Raze the village to the ground?

No. He knew that he didn't have the forces to fully do such a thing. Not unless every single factor went his way, which was virtually impossible. Konoha had a very, very large military force. It was one of the largest available, though the general quality was poorer than any other of the big Shinobi villages due to peace, while Mist had some of the deadliest, though far, far fewer. Still, with enough numbers, it didn't so much matter about Konoha's quality of ninja since they had the most of any other village, even after the last war and the Kyuubi attack.

So, how would he best be able to destroy the village? How could he actually do so even when he was pushed back, as was inevitable?

Orochimaru realized that he wanted Konoha to suffer more than be destroyed. But, other than the Uchiha, his priorities were simple. Kill Sarutobi Hiruzen. And to do that without the entire might of Konoha after him, he needed one hell of a distraction. Thus the war and acquiring Suna, for their unstable jinchuuriki.

But, he _could_ destroy Konoha, even without killing Konoha's military might. The village ran on civilians!

If he could figure out how to kill as many people as possible, then Konoha would collapse in on itself as soon as the weight of running the village became too much.

During the Kyuubi attack, only the ninja populous was weakened other than civilians who didn't have the strength to withstand the massive killing intent of the beast. So, it was slight, but the village had been able to limp on after the assault. The village still continued to function properly.

However, without the civilians, the ninja would be unable to both take on missions _and_ do all those things that the civilians were able to do. Not to mention the villagers and ninja themselves were soft! They didn't really know how to live without those comforts of home!

So, these men were going to be his ace in the hole.

Fifty men were still alive after obtaining their seals, and five women. A curious statistical anomaly, but one the Kage of Sound chose to ignore.

Orochimaru turned and stared at the door where, two seconds later, Tayuya came through and immediately bowed. "Orochimaru-sama."

"What news do you have, Tayuya?"

"The Uchiha is ready and willing to accept your glorious gifts, Orochimaru-sama. He has also activated his Sharingan during the fight, just as you asked us to do."

"Oh?" The sly bastard grunted with a raised eyebrow, inordinately pleased. "Kukuku!" He turned to look at his newest soldiers and considered his plans. He had originally wanted to seal the boy after a test of his skill in the Forbidden Forest where he knew Konoha would be hosting the second stage of the Chuunin Exams. However, with everything he had planned, it was possible that doing so then could put his plans into disarray. However, if he did the same, earlier, then there is the possibility that the larger bulk of his plans would become ineffective. To attempt to do so later than that, however, was even worse since security would be heightened and they may do something stupid to keep his goals from him, just to spite him.

After taking a few moments to consider which of his ultimate goals would be easiest to reacquire should everything fail, he realized how much joy and happiness he would get out of leveling his home village to the ground in the body of their most honored, living icon: the Last Uchiha.

"I have a change of plans. Gather the Guard and send them ahead to determine when the Uchiha will have a free day to himself. I shall give him my gift and we need to ensure no one learns of his acquisition until much later. I will follow tomorrow and then we shall await the moment to strike."

"Yes, Orochimaru-sama." Tayuya rose and immediately left to gather the other Sound Four to observe her pet for their master.

"Kukuku," Orochimaru chuckled once he was alone. "We shall use the chaos of war to hide you leaving Konoha, Sasuke-kun. And then you will be _all_ mine."

xXxXxXx

_'One more time,'_ Anko seethed mentally. _'Let it be just one more time, and I'll take away Hinata-chan's favorite toy forever!'_ The purple-haired woman caressed her kunai like it was a lover, left eyebrow twitching every few seconds.

Moments later...

"Are we there yet?" Naruto asked.

"GAH!" Anko spun and leapt towards the wide-eyed blond, aiming for his baby-making regions, only to end up stabbing a log. "Come back here and face your end like a man!"

"Where exactly are we going, anyway?" Ino asked. "While I admit he's getting annoying with it, Naruto _does_ have a point. We don't even know where we're going 'cause you haven't told us. We've been running and walking for almost four hours now and you just keep giving that infernal grin when we ask."

Anko pinched the bridge of her nose, deciding tormenting them wasn't worth their tormenting her back. It just wasn't fair fighting with Uzumaki Naruto. He took you down to his level! "Fine. At the northwestern-most tip of Fire Country is a border between ourself, Waterfall and Grass. About ten miles from the border on our side is where the most-used roads are for trade. It's a central site where roads head off to Konohagakure, Takigakure and Amegakure, along with Tanzaku Gai, Otafuku Gai and a few other larger cities with various attractions, like Kikiyo Pass to the East of Konoha and to our Daimyo, of course."

"So we're going to the crossroads?" Ino asked.

"Close, but no. Our caravan has a camping site about fifteen miles from the crossroad, further into Fire Country. It's off the beaten path and a little further away from the established resting places most traders use, so they tend to get their rest without people knowing about them. Most stay at the small trading post town where the crossroads are, then there are a few rest stops along each route. So, people tend to think this particular caravan keeps going or stopped at an earlier spot for their rest when people see them."

"Why would they do that?" Ino asked. "Wouldn't it be more dangerous to stay in the wild?"

"Usually," Kurenai said, being somewhat familiar with this particular group. "But these guys tend to deal with international communications and establishing trade routes between villages and businesses."

"I'd think people like that would want their lifestyles to be more luxurious," Naruto commented.

"Normally, you'd be right," Kurenai agreed. "But, by staying so low-key and looking as though they're trying to trade with usual merchandise, they appear less important and tend to have a better understanding of what people need because they hear it directly from the people instead of those in charge, who usually don't really understand what's going on with the lower class. That actually makes them one of the best in their line of work because most nobles have no idea what the people really need or want."

"Anyway, there's a good chance our evil monkey culprit," Anko grinned as Ino shivered, "could be dangerous to 'em later on, which is why they want us to take care of it now."

"So you _don't_ think it's cannibals?" Ino asked.

"Cannibals would go for the meat," Anko said simply. "Humans, by and large, prefer meat to organs."

"I guess we'll see soon," Hinata said, activating her Byakugan for a quick scan of their surroundings. "How long until we arrive where you're taking us?"

"Probably the day after tomorrow," Anko said. "We've just got to keep up our pace."

xXxXxXx

A small fist rose into the air as its owner yawned, smacking her lips repeatedly as she awakened. Her red eyes blinked owlishly as she looked around, finding herself in her room. She then burped and scratched her butt as she used one of her tails to wipe at her eyes.

This was the first time she had really been fully cognizant of being awake since the last thing she could remember, which was splitting the seal. She seemed to remember a dream about two demons who kept her awake rather than let her sleep, but other than that, she seemed to be perfectly fine.

She rose and stretched before tuning her senses into her container, then immediately shut them down. He was _far_ too active for her mind to cope with at that moment. She felt exhausted. Running a quick self-inventory, she whimpered as she realized she had used nearly every bit of her power to give her two masters their new abilities. She had split herself as evenly as she could, five tails of power going to Naruto and four to Hinata. But at that moment, she was nearing half a tail of power for herself.

Being weak was _not_ something she was accustomed to. She didn't like it.

Sitting back on the bed, the Kyuubi closed her eyes and focused on her newer container, checking her for any signs of bad changes. For both of them, they were gaining chakra steadily and their hanyou forms were stable, though unused since the first transformation. The bond between them seemed to be stronger, meaning she would soon be able to manifest herself physically in the outside world. Or at least she hoped so.

Her masters seemed to be progressing very well, despite her apparent need for sleep in the past two months since their return and changing the seal.

Seeing that her yokai was going to alter Hinata's Byakugan while also turning it red, the Kyuubi confirmed what it was going to do before simply ceasing the color change and allowing the rest while working on her master's body as she had once before, hoping to make him stronger, earlier than she had. First and foremost, his senses. No point making him faster if he couldn't sense the kunai coming for his back.

As she worked, she began sifting through their memories of the past two months, hoping to catch up to what was going on.

Almost immediately, she blushed for reasons she didn't quite understand as she realized how amorous the couple had become and was becoming. Then she giggled. Remembering both sides of various activities left her with a strange duality in her mind that had the she-demon crossing her eyes and falling backwards in sensory overload.

"Are you okay, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked, looking at Naruto come back to the group from the tree line.

"Yea," he said, looking confused. "I just thought I heard some giggling and ... cheering while I was taking a leak."

"Men are weird," Anko muttered to Kurenai as the group got back on the road, getting a nod of confirmation and agreement.

xXxXxXx

"La-a-a la, la-a la la!" One little girl, laying on her stomach in the nude while singing softly to herself allowed her luminescent blue hair to fall gently as she played with it, waiting for one of her sisters to come back. She watched as her other sisters did their own thing while waiting.

One with dark, blood red hair and another with black, both glowing softly, were playing kickball but, since they had no ball, they decided to instead use the head from their latest meal. There had been a group the night before and they had finished eating before cracking open the skull, so they saved it for their fun. They had plucked out its eyes, though. Those were so tasty that the girls went for them, first.

Her sister with white hair had taken a liking to the one's sword. It was very large, about twice as long as she was tall, and just as wide, but she grunted with the effort of dragging it everywhere she went in their new home.

Her green-haired sister was currently out of their cave, looking for that night's meal. Each of the girls enjoyed the search, but they decided it would be better to take turns and, that way, they could each catch their food however they wanted.

The blue-haired girl giggled as she dipped her fingers into the blood of the woman that had been with the men and then put it back to the wall, singing softly as she made her pictures, trying to make the bland cave more homey. It wasn't home, but it would be when they got some art on the walls, after all. And each girl had her own section, though blue-hair was the only one who was diligent about it.

While drawing pictures of the various animals she had seen outside on the wall, most of which she had _never_ seen back at her first home, she munched thoughtfully on the saved fingers and toes and thought about why she and the others had begun to call each other by the colors of their hair rather than their names. It was really quite silly, they thought, but not a single one could remember how to speak their names. Well, that wasn't totally true. They knew what their names were _supposed_ to sound like, but they couldn't make their mouths work properly. They didn't even have proper fangs anymore!

In fact, their bodies were very different, too. All of the girls found their new bodies amusing, though. It was strange not having a tail anymore, or being able to control their hair, but the glowing was fun, and if they ran as fast as they could, they could make streams of light appear! It was _fun_! They didn't glow before!

xXxXxXx

Tsutanai Hioi walked along the outside edge of the village. There were many traders who came and went throughout the week, but in the past several days, there had been a disturbing number of human remains found. Naturally, those civilians who used the trading post wanted to ensure that whatever was getting the people wouldn't get them.

That was where he came in.

He was a member of the local guard. Basically, he was what amounted to a Chuunin ninja, although, with mostly basic skills taught and seen by those ninja who passed by. Usually, they were willing to trade one jutsu for another and oftentimes, willing to have a friendly spar if there was a drink or some money for the victor.

Plus, it was rare for many ninja to not be willing to accept payment for their lower-level jutsu. If it was weak and a basic somewhere, like Konoha's Academy Three, or a simple D-rank jutsu, then they had a tendency to accept payment for a basic scroll and let you learn it on your own, figuring you would likely kill yourself attempting it.

Well, Hioi was fond of the ninja lifestyle, even though he was never allowed into an Academy thanks to his shrew of a mother, may she never rest in peace! Hioi had decided when he was denied entry because of her, even if it was because his father was a ninja and she refused to lose him, or so she said though he thought it had to do with forcing him to do all the chores, that he would still learn as much as possible. He paid for the techniques and kept his own small library of them so he could learn them on his off time.

His control was as good as any medic and his physical training regimen made most of the other guardsmen shake their heads in wonder since nothing ever really happened there. And many of those ninja came back through since they tended to make contacts wherever they went.

And good ol' Hioi was always there with an offer for a drink, even enough to get you plastered if your jutsu payment was high enough. That, in conjunction with friendships with many of them meant that they trusted him.

And Danzo-sama was always willing to reimburse for those jutsu he collected.

Still, Hioi took his job seriously. He wasn't exactly loyal to an idea or place, but to his reputation. He always did his best. You had to if you were going to be a Hero. Hero's simply had to _be_ the best!

So, when he heard sniffling, he acted quickly and efficiently. He took his five-foot three body a short distance into the trees, away from his usual patrol pattern, to the voice of what he found to be a little girl crying. "Hell," he muttered, seeing the girl hugging her knees to her chest and crying. Her very long, green hair was covering her body, but in spots it parted, he could tell the girl was naked.

He paused for a slight second when he realized the moon made it seem like the girl's hair was glowing before he shook his head, knowing that was impossible. "Hey, little girl, are you alright? What are you doing out here?"

The green-haired girl looked up, her green eyes looking at the man kneeling in front of her with a doe-like expression that softened the man's heart. _'Whatever happened to her probably has to do something with her lack of clothes,'_ he thought furiously. His first chance to be a hero, and she would probably be scared to death because he was a man! _'Whoever did this to her will suffer! I'll protect her. She'll know she can trust me.'_

The green-haired girl, surprisingly, held out her hands, sniffling lightly as she silently communicated she didn't want to be there and was asking him to carry her. Seeing the girl's entire front side, Hioi blushed, but fought down the sudden assault of his hormones. He didn't understand what was wrong with him. Suddenly, it was like all he wanted to do was take advantage of the girl! "Home?" The girl asked quietly, softly. Her accent was an odd, alluring thing that sounded both exotic and perfectly normal at once.

"Come on," Hioi said softly, leaning forward and letting her wrap her arms around his neck and trying to adjust her so her legs wrapped around his torso and she wouldn't sit low enough to scare her with his reaction. "I'll take you to a healer so we can get you settled and then we'll find who hurt you. Are you alone?"

"Yes," she responded quietly. Then she tightened her grip.

"Y-you need to l-let g-g-" Hioi suddenly realized the grip around his neck was far, _far_ too strong! He tried to peel the girl off, but her strength was something else! He grabbed his knife from his belt sheath and tried to cut the girl, only to suddenly be flung into a tree with too much force to allow him to scream for help.

The green-haired girl growled and launched herself towards Hioi, knocking him into the tree harder and grinning as his ribs seemed to pop rather than snap. Giggling, she elbowed him in the middle of his back, listening for the telltale crack of his spine breaking, paralyzing him. Immediately, Green hair hopped up and down, clapping joyously.

"Yay!" She said happily, ensuring no one would hear her. She grabbed Hioi by his jaw, hooking her fingers underneath and dragged him two miles to her sisters, talking all the way. "You humans are _so_ much fun! You like to cuddle before you get broken into pieces! I don't know why you do, though. Mother used to say you wanted to remember what it was like to be loved before you died and that was why we were so important, but I didn't always believe her. But, she always said mothers know best! It makes sense, though. She did say we gave humans their most sought-after deaths because no one wants to die alone and feeling unloved."

Hioi tried to gurgle something, but he found himself unable to speak due to the girl's fingers piercing the bottom of his jaw for a strong grip and his lungs didn't seem to do anything more than necessary to keep him alive. He couldn't figure out how his lower jaw wasn't ripped off!

"Oh, don't look at me like that," Green hair chided at the man who was looking at her like a beaten puppy in a voice that she learned from her mother. "You humans are very fun, but my sisters and I haven't found a single one who is strong enough to offer anything but a meal. What good are these new bodies if we can't find a strong enough mate? We'll end up having to go back home! We can't have that! Father would be _furious_ with us for leaving! He won't care _why_ we left. The only way to appease him would be to bring back a powerful gift or a strong mate. Sadly, humans seem great for a meal, but poor quality for a mate," she said with a sigh before ignoring whatever the man was trying to tell her. "But, that's okay! It's fun when your food is all wriggly," she giggled out, wriggling her fingers not in the man's chin for emphasis, trying to get her meaning across by showing him.

The little girl spoke non-stop, seemingly without taking a single breath as she brought her sisters their nightly meal. She spoke of how much fun she and her sisters were having and how things were so much different with human bodies. There was so much to learn and experiment with! It was a totally unique experience!

"Got one!" Green chirruped as she dragged Hioi into her new home built into the cave.

"Oh! He's still awake!" Red cried out gleefully, hopping in place with Black. "How did you get him?"

Green giggled, dropping Hioi to the ground amongst the dead bodies of their other victims and padding barefoot through the muddy puddles of blood. "I pretended to be lost and cried! All he wanted was a hug!"

White sighed, slumping her shoulders. "I am beginning to miss draining their lives. Drinking their blood and eating their bodies does not satisfy quite the same."

"Oh, you're just being a sour puss!" Blue scolded. "That feels wonderful, sure, but where is the _taste_? Humans taste so _different_ from each other! Some are tangy! Some are sweet!"

"Some taste like fruit and others are spicy!" Black added, agreeing with her other sisters. "Why do you want to go back to that boring way, White? That's what everyone else does! This is _better_ because _we_ thought of it!" She stomped her foot into the bloody mud for emphasis as her other sisters nodded in agreement.

"I agree with all of that, but it doesn't last nearly as long before we have to feed again," White said diplomatically. "We could go weeks by taking their life force and it's much more enjoyable to feel those sensations everywhere than just tasting them. It usually lasts longer, too."

"Yea," Red agreed, "but we can still do those things together now and feel it all. With human bodies it isn't impossible. So really, it's the best of both, but we get to eat them more often, so we get it more often, too!"

White sighed. "I suppose. I just don't want to forget about who and what we are."

"Well, we're not exactly what we were anymore," Blue stated with a shrug before she went over to their meal and cracked his head like an egg on a rock to get inside even as her sisters began to open up his stomach.

Giggling as the man gurgled, all the girls began feasting, their hair glowing more brightly as they did so, powering beginning to course through their little bodies.

xXxXxXx

"This is it," Anko said, looking at the map the merchant caravan had marked with their usual camping site. "Apparently, from the main path to here, we'll find what had them spooked."

"This way," Hinata said, her Byakugan blazing as she took off to the north-west. Two minutes later, the five-some came upon a clearing that was more rock and less grass, good for hearing people coming upon those who may be resting there, and blood splattered everywhere. Flies buzzed lazily over nearly everything while various carrion-eaters watched the newcomers warily, even as they continued to pluck at or bite through the numerous bodies laying about.

"Oh god," Ino mumbled, covering her mouth and nose with her shirt, trying to avoid the stench of decay and old blood. She swallowed thickly as she found a small pile of women, their clothes all gone and their bodies having begun to rot in the direct sunlight. Their chests were ripped open, the flesh torn and pulled aside, and their insides were either gone, or strewn about haphazardly.

Naruto, much to the relief of all of them, summoned some gas masks to cover their lower faces. They were designed based off a pair that had been stolen from Mist and cleansed the air from any airborne poisons or pollutants, which also, thankfully, meant the smell of decay. Next came a set of latex gloves that had originally been planned for use with Hinata's medical needs and when training with poisons.

"Alright," Kurenai began. "We're looking for any evidence of what could have done this: hair, foot or paw prints, tools left or whatever. If you think it's important, call out and let one of us look at it and try not to ruin anything you may come across."

Hinata and Naruto immediately went to the bodies of the nearest, and smallest, pile of women and began to examine their wounds and what, exactly, was missing on each of them other than the obvious.

_'Heart, liver, kidneys and the spleen are all missing,'_ Hinata thought to herself, pressing aside the various insides that were left and not thrown around on the ground. _'Everything was torn, not a single thing cut, suggesting animal rather than human. Ribcage broken, so great strength for an animal. But the skin is all intact, if torn and ripped to the side. These women's breasts are intact, so whatever did this didn't chew through. No animal I know of will get into a body like this.'_

Hinata frowned as she watched Naruto work from one body to the next, checking under fingernails for any signs of hair, fur or skin if the women had somehow managed to fight back. He was doing a cursory, external check of the bodies while Hinata went with her own forté in the medical side of things.

_'No signs of struggle,'_ Naruto thought with a frown. _'The only ones with any external bruising are the seven next to the cage and they haven't been opened like the others. It looks like only the carrion-eaters got them. But, those ones were obviously raped, fairly brutally, too. And each neck's been snapped. Well, no. Two of them seem to have been suffocated.'_ Naruto's lip curled in a silent snarl as he finished looking over the bodies, sending the various birds away with a concentrated blast of killing intent to scare them.

"Naruto-kun?" Ino called out, gesturing her fellow blond over to her.

"Yea?" He asked, jogging over to her, careful not to step on anything that could be checked later.

"What do you think this is?" She asked, gesturing to the deep grooves in the ground.

Naruto's eyes furrowed as he looked and noticed the outermost line was a very large circle, about thirty feet wide and far too perfectly formed to be natural. Then, there were a good number of figures and lines drawn into the ground. Along each line on both sides, kanji were etched into the rock with great precision, making a pit in the bottom of Naruto's stomach suddenly feel very uneasy.

"Ino, stay away from this spot and tell the others to do the same until I've looked into this," Naruto said lowly, not removing his eyes from the obvious seal in the ground. _'This is what they thought looked like something heavy was dragged around?'_ He wondered to himself, unsealing a large scroll to copy the seal in regular ink.

"What is it?" Ino asked, feeling nervous by Naruto's actions.

"A summoning seal," Naruto explained. "Only it isn't meant to summon a regular creature. If this is what caused all of this, then we could be in serious trouble."

Ino's mind went back to large monkeys ruling over humans, making the pretty human females feed them bananas and pick bugs from their fur. "I'll ... er, just be going over there now," she whimpered, turning mechanically.

Naruto nodded without really paying attention as he created a few clones to copy the seal for him while he took the time to look it over, decrypting it in his head as he went and getting progressively more horrified.

"I've only been able to find human tracks," Anko told Kurenai once they made a sweep of the area. "We've got thirty-four women, total, plus what appears to be two male bodies. And that's not all."

"What do you mean?" Kurenai asked, having been checking the area around the larger group of women, she hadn't found as many tracks as Anko had since all the women had been thrown over to form the pile with slit throats. That had been twenty-two of them, while Anko checked by the twelve nearer the cage and the field at large.

Anko looked hesitant to say anything and took a quick glance to see that their Genin were far enough away. "I found children's footprints."

Red eyes blazed to look into Anko's. "How many and what happened, could you tell?"

Anko shook her head. "They were everywhere around the outside of the cage and the smaller pile of girls."

Kurenai frowned. "You mean the ones that were mutilated?"

Anko nodded solemnly. "Kurenai-chan," Anko said carefully. "Those footprints are lightest around the male bodies, then heaviest around the cage and the six mutilated females. I know it's hard to believe, but normally, I'd say that meant whoever did that to those bodies belonged to those feet."

"But children?" Kurenai asked incredulously, doing her best to keep her voice quiet from the others.

"I'm telling you what I am taking from reading the scene," Anko said, raising her hands in a defensive gesture to ward off Kurenai's ire. "Maybe they're not children, but just small people," she suggested. "All I know is they were barefoot and moved around quickly. Either fighting or dancing or _something_ other than simple walking, which the adult footprints don't show at all."

Kurenai frowned before nodding once. "I don't like it, and am not sure really sure I can believe it, but I guess it's a possibility. Approximate age?"

Anko shrugged. "Approximate size, at least. Probably a touch larger than that girl at the orphanage that had Naruto wrapped around her little finger."

"About six to nine, then," Kurenai filled in. "We've had ninja that young before who were damn good at their job. So I guess it's possible it could have been them. But we should still look for other possibilities. Whoever left this could have just been using them for sport, too."

Anko flinched, but agreed. "Alright maggots! What have you got? Time to report!"

"Biggest worry," Naruto said first as his clones continued to copy the seal he was now pointing at. "Whoever made that was a sadistic genius."

"Explain," Kurenai demanded.

"It's a summoning seal that does much more than that. It's less complex at first glance, but only because it doesn't seem to have a contract built into the seal work itself."

"So it _is_ a seal, then?" Anko asked in the form of a grunt.

"Yes," Naruto said with a sigh. "It looks like it was meant to summon a specific type of demon, something that fed off the life force of another. Then, it was designed to combine that type of demon, which it seems to have been meant to summon five of, with whoever activated the seal."

Four female faces paled drastically. "Are you telling us we have some psycho running around, juiced up on demonic energy?" Anko asked.

"Possibly," Naruto said. "It looks like twenty-two of the women, the ones with their throats cut, were made to drain into the seal, but I noticed one spot on the inside that didn't have blood on it. So, it's possible it wasn't ever activated or it failed somehow. I have no way of knowing."

"Do you think we should have the Hokage send a more advanced team?" Ino asked, not really feeling up to dealing with demonic monkeys or their banana fetishes.

"There's no proof that suggests it had actually worked," Hinata said. "Going back with just the seal is, while worrisome, not enough to warrant abandoning the mission. At the very least, we should attempt to find out more information. If it were truly a demon, or even five of them, then there would be a swath of carnage and it wouldn't be nearly this quiet. Not all demons are bad, but whatever happened here, it is obvious that it wasn't demons that did the majority of it."

"Why do you say that?" Kurenai asked. "There's certainly plenty of blood around here and enough gore to suggest it."

"I did a quick exam on all of the bodies," Hinata began. "As you can tell, twenty-two women had their throats cut, which is what killed them. They bled to death after being paralyzed with their necks broken. Any other wounds were postmortem, limited to bludgeoning probably from being thrown."

"Those seven," she said, gesturing at the small pile to the side of the large cage, "were raped and beaten lightly, but were a mix of suffocation or simply having their necks broken. The wounds indicate it was probably by the larger man since his hands fit the marks left behind."

"Those five," she gestured to the women who had been ripped open and were missing various body parts, "were alive when they were ... eaten. They're all missing the same parts: liver, kidneys, spleen and heart, along with eyes and brain. With little of any of that around, it suggests these were devoured or taken by the culprits."

"What about the two males?" Anko asked.

"Same as the five women," Hinata provided. "However, it appears the bones were ripped from the bodies and any muscle tissue shredded off. The marrow from them is all missing."

"Er, I've also noticed something," Ino said hesitantly, feeling very sick and glad for the breathing masks. "Whatever happened, none of the more intelligent animals are coming around." Surprised, all of the others looked around, noting that the most intelligent creature were birds. "There aren't any paw prints and we didn't see any dogs around here when we showed up, but we have to scare the birds away or even hit them since they don't seem too worried about us."

"What could have caused that?" Kurenai wondered aloud. She was also surprised she hadn't caught it herself. Wild beasts would have been on this site almost immediately under normal conditions. _'I've been spending too much time out of the field. I'm getting rusty,'_ she thought to herself. She knew Anko didn't do much in the way of clean-up, so she felt it was normal for her lover to not notice it since she was used to more following tracks or reading ninja-related signs rather than ... whatever this was.

"Naruto-kun," Hinata suddenly spoke into the quiet, making Ino twitch in shock and a little amount of fear. "Do you want to try summoning a toad to sniff for any demonic chakra? We've been looking for a good opportunity away from Konoha in case we accidentally summoned Kyuubi."

"Wait, what?" Kurenai asked, wanting to know what they were talking about.

"We're wanting to see if we can still summon toads since we could before coming back," Naruto explained. "We know they're not in this world, exactly, so they may not be affected by the time-travel. We were thinking of trying to summon them, but since we made the deal with the Kyuubi and she became our slave, we have the ability to summon her, too. So, we didn't want to do it in Konoha in case we can't summon toads, and only summon her since it could cause ... well, problems," he finished lamely, grinning nervously.

"If there's a chance of you summoning the Kyuubi, then don't do it here," Anko warned with a shake of her head.

"Why not?" Hinata asked. She had kind of been looking forward to meeting the Kyuubi face-to-face, so to speak. Plus, knowing she could change her size and shape, it was only proper that she allowed Hinata to give her coat a good petting! She looked all kinds of fluffy in her miniature fox form.

"If she radiates power like she did in the past, then it could lead to rather upsetting questions being asked by Grass and Waterfall since we're so close to their borders. Waterfall is used to enemy soldiers trying to come in and find them to take over and Grass ... well, they aren't shy about defending their territory."

Hinata winced. "She did say that she would release a lot of power initially. So, I guess you're right."

"Let's head to the trading post. We'll see if anyone knows anything or if there are more recent attacks," Kurenai suggested.

Anko snorted. "It looks like Ino-chan here could use a stiff drink, too," she joked, only to laugh loudly when Ino nodded rapidly.

xXxXxXx

**[A/N:]** - Next Chapter! The conclusion! Then, we start the Kiyoko Pass mission!


End file.
